SHSP - Super High School Pro
by Awesome Will v1
Summary: The Super High School Despair, Junko Enoshima, decides to branch out, starting Super High School Pro, a pro wrestling competition bringing together girls representing middle and high schools from around the country. With only their own two hands, anyone can beat anyone else in this ring!
1. 11-17

The scene was set - a four-sided ring, an announce table, an entrance ramp, the speakers and a jumbo-sized screen. The letters 'SHSP' written on the grey mat of the ring. The audience members were seated, all waiting with anticipation of what was to come.

And in the ring? A smiling blonde-haired young woman, her flowing pigtails each accessorized by a black or white bear hairpin. In a stylish-looking black-and-red variation of a school uniform, she looked over the cheering audience.

"Hello everyone!" She welcome the cheering audience, speaking into a microphone. "My name is Junko Enoshima, and I'm the general manager of Super High School Pro!" Her demeanor switched immediately, to a gloomy-sounding voice. "They… used to call me the Super High School Despair…" Her voice changed again, now into an exaggeratedly cute tone. "But now I'm moving onto things!"

Junko paced around the ring, microphone in hand as she continued.

"I decided to put together a new experience, a pro wrestling federation, made up of female students from middle and high schools! It's not a killing game, but it should be pretty fun, yes?" Junko gave a smirk at the audience after this remark. "And the one thing to remember is, it doesn't matter what you did before here! It doesn't matter if you fought witches, were a witch, or mowed down students in super-powered suits with fancy weapons. And it doesn't matter if the most physical activity you've had is playing in a band or performing in an idol show. Once you walk through that curtain…" Junko motioned to the entrance way, a curtain separating the back in the ramp. "…everyone is equal. It doesn't matter what you did before, because here, anyone can beat anyone else!"

Junko took another few steps around, leaning her back against the ring ropes. "And tonight is our first show! We will be starting things with the tournament to crown the first ever SHSP Champion! The girls will enter, but only one will be the champion! Now, who's ready?!"

The audience cheered loudly. "Alright then, let's get things started! Take it away, ring announcer Tenma Tsukamoto!" With that, Junko exited the ring.

The audience's attention turned to the girl with long, dark hair in the corner of the ring, wearing a school uniform of beige, white and red, a smile on her face and a microphone in her hand. Tenma brought the microphone up to her mouth. "The following contest is a first round match in the SHSP Championship Tournament, and is scheduled for one fall! Your referee for this bout is Miho Nishizumi!"

The crowd gave a respectful cheer as a second girl entered the ring, a smile on the face accented by her medium-length red-orange hair. She appeared to be wearing a referee shirt along with the green skirt of a school uniform.

The attention of the arena turned to the entrance way as the sound of distorted guitar filled the speakers. As the song's guitar riff kicked in, the first competitor came walking through the entrance. Dressed in a distinctive black-and-white uniform over a fuchsia skirt, she looked around through her green-blue eyes at the cheering audience, her long red hair waving behind her as she walked.

Tenma brought the microphone to her mouth again. "Introducing first, Rias Gremory!"

Rias came walking down the ramp towards the ring, looking around with a content smile on her face at the excited audience.

"Rias Gremory, starting off this tournament!" A voice began. The camera turned to the table by ringside, showing a pair of girls wearing matching beige school uniforms, both in headsets. "Thank you for joining us, on commentary, I'm Mio Naganohara!" The blue-haired, pigtailed announcer informed the audience.

"And I'm Yukko Aioi!" Her brunette partner added. "And Rias Gremory is the first entrant in the tournament, I hear she's a bit of… a devil." Aioi chuckled.

"I don't know about that, but we do know she's a pretty popular person in her school." Naganohara added. "She's the heir apparent to a family that's known as the House of Gremory."

Rias entered the ring through the top and middle rope. She walked over the closest corner, climbing up to the middle turnbuckle, looking around at the cheering audience.

Naganohara continued her commentary. "We do know that before now, she didn't typically engage in combat, being more comfortable being part of a group that operates almost like a group of chess. How she'll do in the ring all by herself remains to be seen."

"That's right, like our general manager Junko Enoshima said, it doesn't matter what you did before here, just what you do in the ring." Aioi added as Rias climbed down, walking to the far side of the ring from the entrance. Her music came to a stop, the arena going quiet again.

Three drum beats preceded the vocals of the song that started playing over the speakers. "_Inside Identity, ibasho wa doko?_"

As the song kicked in, out walked the next competitor. Standing out immediately was the white eye patch over her one eye. In a grey school uniform outfitted with a red ribbon and plaid skirt, she struck a dramatic-looking pose on the ramp, holding her index and middle fingers open above her one visible blue-green eye.

Tenma continued her ring announcing. "And her opponent, Rikka TakanashI!"

Rikka began her own walk down the ramp, looking around with a much more curious and wary look than Rias did.

"And Rikka Takanashi is her opponent for this match." Naganohara commented. "What we know about Rikka is that she suffers from what's called 'eighth-grader syndrome', even though she's much older than that."

"But big personalities like that are what make wrestling fun, so she I think she'll make a great fit!" Aioi cut in.

Rikka quickly dashed up the steps leading to the ringside. She stepped onto the apron, leaping over the top rope into the ring. She immediately sprung onto the middle rope of the closest corner, making the same pose she did during her entrance.

"Well, she's a strange one, alright." Naganohara observed. "And isn't that eye patch gonna impede her vision?"

Rias looked curiously at her opponent's strange behavior as the two came towards each other towards the middle of the ring. Referee Nishizumi signaled to the girl sitting by the ring bell, who rang the bell three times.

"And that would be our timekeeper, Kosaki Onodera." Naganohara informed the audience. "Apparently a friend of hers is competing in the tournament also."

Rias and Rikka faced each other, approaching one another slowly with obvious caution.

Rikka slowly extended her right hand in Rias' direction. Rias mirrored her, the two moving steadily closer to one another. They finally reached one another, going into the standard collar-and-elbow tie-up. The two struggled against one another, neither one seeming to gain a clear advantage.

"Collar-and-elbow tie-up." Naganohara commented. "It seems like a stalemate at the moment."

"Looks like they're still both getting a feel for their opponent." Aioi added.

The two let go of another, both taking a step back. They eyed one another down, taking a few steps around the ring. They both concluded their pacing, going back towards one another again, going back into the tie-up. This time, Rias quickly broke the test of strength, grabbing hold of Rikka by the wrist. Rias twisted Rikka's wrist around, dropping Rikka down to one knee.

Naganohara commented. "And Rias taking control early on!"

Rikka leaped back up to her feet, putting her other hand on Rias' wrist, quickly reversing the hold, now taking control of the wristlock. Now with the advantage, Rikka whipped Rias off towards the ropes. Rias bounced off them, coming back in towards Rikka, who made a small leap into a dropkick, knocking Rias down the ground with a cheer from the ground.

"What a dropkick by Rikka!" An impressed Aioi observed. "The crowd sure liked that one."

"But she's gonna need to stay on her to keep the advantage." Added Naganohara.

Rikka rose first, continuing her offense with a few kicks to the Rias, preventing her from rising. Rikka turned and ran across the ring, running off the ropes back towards to Rias. She dropped down, throwing both feet in Rias' direction on the way down. Rias rolled away, leaving Rikka to miss and fall onto the ground.

"Ouch, crash and burn!" Commented Aioi. "Should've stayed on her!"

"And now it looks like Rias is gonna take advantage of this opening!" Naganohara pointed out.

Rias leaped onto Rikka for a pinfall attempt. Referee Nishizumi dropped to the mat for the count.

"1, 2—" Rikka quickly kicked out.

"First pinfall, and only a two count." Naganohara commented. "Now Rias trying to follow up now that she has the opening."

Rias pulled herself up by a vertical basis, holding Rikka's left wrist as she did. Rikka was brought up to her knees, quickly throwing her left wrist at Rias for a punch. It was caught by Rias, who dropped Rikka's other arm.

Now with her other arm free, Rikka threw a second punch, this one also caught. Holding onto both her opponents arms, Rias gave Rikka a shove by her wrists, letting go and leaving her to drop to the mat.

"Everything she throws gets countered by Rias!" Aioi commented. "And now Rias going in for a second cover!"

Referee Nishizumi went onto the mat to count a second pinfall attempt. "1, 2—" Rikka kicked out of the pin forcefully.

Rikka rolled away as Rias climbed off of the pinfall attempt. Now on the other side of the ring, she glared in Rias direction as her red-haired opponent stood up again.

Naganohara commentated as the two faced each other again. "Rikka's looking a little frustrated there."

"Hard to blame her, Rias seems to have a counter for every move Rikka throws."

"Still, impressive amount of wrestling knowledge by the two of them, a good start to this tournament."

The two approached one another in the middle of the ring once again, Rias looking far calmer than Rikka's frustrated disposition. The two extended their hands, apparently looking for another lock up. The two reached their hands closer.

Rikka immediately threw a kick, catching Rias in the shin. Rias let out an audible yell from the attack.

"Ouch, Rikka going low!" Aioi called.

Rikka turned and ran towards the ropes, bouncing off with further speed in Rias direction. Rias regrouped herself from the kick, throwing her arm out in Rikka's direction. Rikka managed to duck underneath it, crossing the ring to bounce off the other side. Rias turned around to see Rikka coming at her, throwing her arm underneath the same arm Rias threw the clothesline with, tossing Rias to the ground.

"Hip toss by Rikka!" Nagnaohara commented. "After ducking the clothesline, it looks like Rikka's getting back into this match!"

"But it looks like she's wasting time." Aioi pointed out.

Rikka stood a few paces away from Rias, striking a pose, one hand over her eye patch, the other hand extended palm-out.

Rias began to pull herself back up, prompting Rikka to drop the pose and run back in to continue her quickly-fleeting advantage. Rias raised a hand, going in for a strike. Rikka leaped over the still-grounded Rias, who turned around into a quick kick from Rikka.

Rias went down again. Rikka looked down at her downed opponent before quickly running towards the closest corner.

Naganohara commented. "And instead of going for the corner, looks like Rikka has something else in mind."

Rikka climbed outside of the ring onto the apron, hopping up onto the second turnbuckle, using it to step onto the top turnbuckle.

The audience watched as Rikka stood on the top rope, her entire body shaking slightly, her head now an ample height above the canvas of the ring. Rias was stirring, but still down on the ground.

"And Rikka to the top!" Naganohara exclaimed. "What is she gonna do here?"

Rikka stood on the top rope, a nervous look setting into her face, her body still shaking slightly. Her eyes shut as she let out a small yell, jumping off the top rope in Rias direction. Rias began to rise, moving away. Rikka's eyes opened up again as she came down towards the mat, seeing Rias up again.

Steering herself in mid-air, Rikka's feet hit the mat, but her balance was clearly lost as she stumbled around in a vain attempt to gain her footing. Rias snuck up behind Rikka, tucking her head underneath Rikka's arm and using both arms to lift her up, falling backwards to drop Rikka back-first into the ground.

"What a suplex!" Aioi exclaimed.

"The high-risk manuever did not pay off for Rikka." Naganohara said. "And an impressive back suplex by Rias."

Rias dropped onto Rikka, hooking her leg for a pin, Referee Nishizumi dropping into position for the count.

"1, 2—" Rikka got a shoulder up before her hand hit for three.

Rias got back up to her knees beside Rikka, pondering her next move. She got back up to a standing state, pulling Rikka back up with her. The redhead whipped her eye patch-wearing opponent towards the rope, Rikka's body turning to land back-first in the turnbuckles.

Now panting slightly, the fatigue of the match finally becoming evident, Rias eyed Rikka in the corner. Pondering her actions for a moment, Rias charged in, dashing at full speed towards Rikka.

Rias ducked her head low, her shoulder being the attack point towards Rikka. Just as she got in close, she found herself countered, Rikka raising both feet to catch Rias in mid-dash.

"Oh, counter!" Naganohara commentated as Rias took a few steps back, her hand over her mouth. Her face told the story of how much pain Rias was in from the counter.

Rikka shook her head slightly, regaining her bearings. She made a short hop, going onto the second rope. She made a short hop off, turning her body sideways as she fell in Rias' direction, her right foot catching Rias in her previously-injured face with a kick.

"And a spinning heel kick!" Shouted Naganohara excitedly as the crowd cheered for the move. "That's gotta be it!"

Rikka crawled over Rias the second she hit the ground, pinning her with a leg hook pin. Referee Nishizumi dropped to the ground. "1, 2—" To the surprise of the crowd, Rias got a shoulder up. The audience cheered loudly.

"And not quite!" Naganohara called. "First that counter, then the heel kick, it looks like Rias is a little toughter than one might think!"

Rikka sprung back up, looking down at Rias in the ground. Panting a bit, she took a few steps back, looking at her opponent.

Rias turned over, in an apparent small step to get back up. She put her left hand over her now-red face, balancing herself with her hand hand and both knees on the floor. She pushed off with her right hand, back up to a kneeling position, only able to watch Rikka lining herself up a few steps away.

Staring down her opponent, Rikka took a deep breath before screaming out three words. "Vanishment! This! World!"

Rias looked up to see Rikka charging. The navy-haired Takanashi made a small jump, swinging her right foot straight at Rias' head. Rias' head went down to duck her kick, leaving Rikka to miss wildly, hitting the canvas hard only inches away from Rias.

"Swing and a miss!" Said Aioi as the crowd made an 'Oh!' sound at Rikka's missed move.

Rias struggled to get back up, Rikka doing the same. Ahead of Rikka by a few seconds, Rias was back up before her opponent. Gremory turned and ran across the ring, bouncing off the ropes towards Rikka, who turned around to see Rias turn around, her elbow connecting with the side of Rikka's head.

"Back elbow by Rias!" Naganohara called. "Can she capitalize?"

Rikka was down, Rias trying to get herself together enough to capitalize. Still stumbling slightly, she reached for the dazed Rikka, pulling her up by the head.

Rias pulled Rikka towards her, tucking her opponent's head underneath her arm. Both of Rias hands reached for Rikka's corresponding arms, lifting them up. Standing in this position for a split second, Rias dropped backwards, bringing Rikka down head-first to the canvas.

"And a double-arm DDT!" The impressed Naganohara shouted. "Could this do it?!"

Rias turned Rikka over onto her back and went in for the pin, hooking the leg. Referee Nishizumi counted. "!, 2, 3!"

The bell rang three times, Rias' music hitting the speakers again as Tenma picked up her mic.

"The winner of this match, Rias Gremory!"

Despite the pain and fatigue wearing in, Rias got back up, Referee Nishizumi raising her hand as the crowd cheered loudly for her victory.

"And Rias gets the win in the first match of the tournament!" Naganohara said. "What a match by both of these competitors, it looked like it could've gone either way!"

"It looked like Rikka's showboating probably cost her." Added Aioi. "Both of them looked pretty good, but in the end, Rias Gremory pulled it out."

Rias climbed up to the second rope, managing to put on a smile as she waved to the cheering audience.

Naganohara continued. "Rikka Takanashi has nothing to be ashamed of though. An excellent effort, she's gonna be a contender here for sure."

Referee Nishizumi helped Rikka to stand again, though it was clear just from looking at her face that she was out of it from the the finishing move she just sustained. Rias turned around, giving Rikka a brief bow as Referee Nishizumi helped her from the ring.

"It's only the first match, but it's never too soon to ask, 'Could we be looking at our first champion?'." Aioi said, watching Rias climb up the opposite corner's turnbuckle, motioning to the crowd once again.

"We've only seen two of the sixteen girls who will be competing to become the first SHSP champion, but you gotta believe that either way, Rias is gonna be a factor in this tournament!"

Rias rolled out of the ring, high-fiving the fans at ringside with a smile on her face despite the red mark on her face, making her way towards the ramp with her music blaring.

"Congrats again to Rias Gremory on advancing! And now we send things to our backstage interviewer, Eru Chitanda! Chitanda?" Naganohara asked.

The camera cut to the backstage area, showing a dark-haired girl wearing a blue-and-white school outfit, smiling happily at the camera. "Thank you! I'm Eru Chitanda. Joining me at this time is my guest, Chitoge Kirisaki!"

Chitanda looked to her guest who walked up to her, a blonde-haired half-foreigner in a red bow, complimenting her sky blue school uniform. Looking a bit serious, she gave Chitanda a nod of acknowledgement before turning to the camera.

Chitanda continued. "Kirisaki-san, I'm curious, what are your thoughts on your match tonight? Your opponent is a very well-known competitor by the name of Satsuki Kiryuin, who actually directs her own school, and is known for being pretty good in combat."

Chitoge smirked slightly. "I'm not intimidated. Sure, she's had a lot of combat experience, but that's with a sword and a super-powered suit. I don't think it's gonna be the same when all she has is her own two hands." A smile still on her face, Chitoge shrugged. "I mean, what's she gonna do, step on me until I can't fight anymore?"

Chitanda made a small noise, turning to look to the opposite side of Chitoge. Chitoge looked over as well, seeing the glaring eyes of Satsuki Kiryuin, her distinctive long raven-colored hair hung over her especially thick eyebrows, contorted in an angry stare at Chitoge.

Satsuki glanced over Chitoge briefly, before looking her right in the eye. "You should be careful of what you say, Chitoge Kirisaki."

With that one sentence, she turned and exited, leaving behind a somewhat stunned Chitanda, and an upset Chitoge watching her go.

The scene on-screen changed to that of an office area, Junko Enoshima sitting behind a desk, looking over several documents, a pair of glasses on her face. The sound of knocking turned her attention awa y from her paperwork. "Yes?"

The door opened, bringing in her guest - a very awkward-looking bespectacled girl in a purple school uniform that matched her long purple braids. "E-Enoshima-san?"

Junko looked over to her guest while removing her glasses. "Ah, Touko Fukawa, glad you made it. What can I do for you?"

Fukawa looked away from Junko, her hands fidgeting nervously.. "I-I know I said that I'd be part of your promotion, b-but putting me in the world title tournament?! I didn't even want to compete…"

"Fukawa-san, relax." Junko responded, giving Fukawa a small smile. "I wanted you in the tournament because I saw something very special in you."

"B-but I'm not really a fighter!" Fukawa protested.

"Most of the girls in the tournament aren't fighters." Junko replied. "That's what makes it so great, anything can happen and anyone can beat anyone else."

"Can't you have me do something else?!" Fukawa asked frantically. "I-I don't even know what you see in me."

Junko placed her glasses back on, changing her tone of voice to a more business-like manner. "From what I see here, your match isn't until next week. You have time to prepare." She removed her glasses, her tone of voice now becoming a typical 'cute' voice. "You can do it, Touko-chan!"

Fukawa let out a small worried noise. "I'll try… I guess…" She reached for the doorknob, exiting the office quickly.

Junko replaced her glasses, looking over her papers again. "Ah, Fukawa-san…" She said, shaking her head briefly.

The bell rang in the ringside area as Tenma took up her microphone once again. The following contest is a first round match in the SHSP Championship Tournament, and is scheduled for one fall! Your referee for this bout is Suzu Hagimura!"

The camera panned over slightly, only catching the forehead and a bit of blonde hair. It panned down, showing the extremely short referee, Suzu Hagimura, not looking too excited. She brushed her long yellow pigtails back as the attention of the arena turned back to the entrance ramp.

The sounds of a dance song came through the speakers with the sound of "_Pure, pure parado_". Out from the back walked the next entrant, a girl almost as short as the recently introduced referee. Wearing a distinctive red blazer with a blue skirt, the long-haired brunette didn't look particularly smiley in her stride down the entrance ramp.

"Introducing first, Taiga Aisaka!"

Taiga made her way down in the entrance way in a straightforward manner, looking around at the crowd with her almost annoyed expression.

"And here comes the girl they call the 'Palmtop Tiger'." Naganohara commented through Taiga's entrance. "From what we know of her, though she doesn't have a formal background in any kind of fighting, it wasn't uncommon for her to get into fights at school."

"She really looks like she's ready for a fight." Aioi added. "She just looks like she's ready to punch someone."

Taiga walked up the steps and entered the ring through the ropes. She walked to the other side past the similarly diminutive referee Hagimura, looking out among the cheering crowd. She stretched herself out a bit, obstensibly in preparation for the match.

Taiga's theme lowered in volume before coming to a halt. Taiga paced slightly, looking out at the ramp in preparation for her opponent.

The sound of music filled the arena again, this time a much more mellow, slow-tempo instrument-based song. However, the expression on the face of the girl was definitely a contrast, coming out with an unhappy, almost irritated look on her face. Wearing a school uniform in a distinct color scheme of pink, red and purple, and with very long purple hair, she paused at the top of the ramp, observing the scene.

"And her opponent, Hitagi Senjougahara!"

"I thought the opponent would have to look friendlier than Taiga did, but this girl looks even more mad." Aioi commented through the crowd's cheer.

Senjougahara began to make her way down the ramp, walking somewhat slowly.

Naganohara continued. "Hitagi Senjougahara, comes to us from a school called Naoetsu Private High School. Unlike Taiga, the rumors that surround her are a bit harder to believe."

Taiga looked straight at Senjougahara as she arrived at the ring, not looking to impressed. Senjougahara returned the look, her unamused face remaining the same as when she walked into the arena.

"Geez." Commented Aioi. "Both of them look like they came here ready to rip someone's head off."

Senjougahara entered through the ropes, walking into the middle of the ring. Taiga walked over to the meet her, Referee Hagimura standing a few paces away.

Senjougahara stood, looking intensely down at the much shorter Taiga. Taiga looked up at Senjougahara. Neither one seemed the slightest bit intimidated.

Referee Hagimura motioned for the bell to be rung, and with three 'ding's, the match was officially underway.

"Here we go, Taiga and Hitagi, first round match!" Naganohara excitedly said.

The two stood firmly in place despite the bell ringing, looking at one another still. Finally, Senjougahara broke the freeze in actions, bringing her right hand up, the back of her hand landing across Taiga's face.

Taiga's head turned with the impact of the move, still not knocking her from her spot.

"And Senjougahara with the first strike!" Naganohara called.

Taiga pulled herself back together, looking back at Senjougahara, who similarly didn't move after her strike. She reached a hand over where she had been struck for a moment, then balled the hand into a fist, making its way up into Senjougahara's stomach. Senjougahara flinched a bit, taking a step back, her right hand going over where she had been hit.

She stood, giving a glaring look to Taiga, who looked back with a stern expression. They paused briefly. The two abruptly charged towards one another, immediately breaking into an exchange of fists, prompting the audience's volume to suddenly raise in the excitement.

"Look at them go!" Shouted Aioi.

The two exchanged strikes on one another. After a few moments of this, it was clear that Taiga was gaining the advantage, despite her size and reach disadvantage, her punches were landing more forcefully. Senjougahara stumbled backwards, abandoning her part in the brawl and now attempting to guard against the onslaught from Taiga.

Senjougahara soon found herself backed into the corner of the ring, with her opponent closing in. Taiga closed in, going on the offensive with Senjougahara cornered.

Referee Hagimura ran over, pulling Taiga from the corner. "Out of the corner, Aisaka!" She shouted to Taiga.

Taiga glared angrily in the referee's direction while taking a few steps backwards.

"And a call from Referee Hagimura." Naganohara commented. "Cornering your opponent in that way is against the rules."

Senjougahara stepped out of the corner, not taking her eyes off of Taiga. The purple-haired girl approached her smaller opponent cautiously, noting Taiga's fists were up.

"It looks like Taiga's reputation of being a willing fighter is true after all." Aioi said. "She had Senjougahara reeling there."

"It remains to be seen if she can hold onto that advantage." Naganohara replied, watching the two approach each one another slowly.

Taiga stepped closer towards Senjougahara, who did likewise. Taiga threw the first punch, swinging her right hand at Senjougahara, who swung her forearm up to stop it. Senjougahara followed her parry with a kick aimed towards Taiga's ribs, a kick she managed to move away from without it connecting.

Senjougahara's foot landed on the canvas awkwardly from the kick, causing her to stumble. Taiga moved in almost instinctively, throwing a swinging punch. Showing agility of her own, Senjougahara managed to avoid her opponent's move just as she had done, Taiga stumbling forward a bit, bent slightly at the waist. Senjougahara moved in immediately, throwing her left arm over Taiga's neck, clasping the brunette's right arm to her side in the process of bringing her hands underneath Taiga's neck, completing the move known as the front face lock.

"And smart thinking from Senjougahara!" Naganohara commented. Senjougahara put pressure on Taiga, who began to struggle in the hold.

"I think she realized that she wasn't going to win a fist fight with Taiga, so she needed to go another way." Added Aioi.

"And an interesting twist, not just the front face lock, but also pinning Taiga's right arm down."

Senjougahara bore down on Taiga, who was twisting and turning in the hold, attempting to break free. Taiga threw her hands out, striking Senjougahara's lower back, but the hold was clearly taking its effect, it was only a few moments before Taiga's resistance began to slow.

Referee Hagimura ran over to Taiga. "What do you say Taiga, you wanna give up?"

Taiga managed to a quiet "No" in response. Senjougahara loosened her grip slightly, spinning her body around to now use both arms to put Taiga into a headlock. Senjougahara exerted her strength on Taiga again, who still tried to break free.

Her body now positioned behind Taiga, Senjougahara was free to continue to try to wear down Taiga without worrying about her strikes.

"You gotta wonder how much more of this she can take." Aioi commentated.

"This is where Taiga's small stature will hurt her." Naganohara continued. "The fact that almost any opponent she has will be bigger than her is probably going to have a strength advantage, and in this case, it looks like it's gonna keep her from being able to break Senjougahara's hold onher."

Taiga attempted to walk and bring Senjougahara with her, not making much progress with each attempted footstep. Her teeth gritted, Taiga continued to try to break through. Out of nowhere, she let out a shout, moving herself in the opposite direction, backwards. Caught off-guard, Senjougahara teetered backwards, landing in the corner, her hands falling from around Taiga's head.

The smaller of the combatants spun around, throwing a kick at Senjougahara, catching her in the same place her first punch did. Senjougahara doubled over, hand over her stomach. Taiga dropped onto her knees after her strike, attempting to catch her breath.

"And she finally gets out of Senjougahara's holds, but has the damage been done?" Asked Naganohara.

Senjougahara apparently having recovered, stepped out of the corner and started towards Taiga, still in the process of recovering. Taiga took note of Senjougahara closing in, pulling herself back up as quickly as she could. Senjougahara's walk turned into a dash in Taiga's direction. Leaving her no opponent no time to react, Senjougahara stopped upon grabbing a hold of Taiga's left wrist.

In what seemed like an instant Senjougahara twisted Taiga's arm by the wrist, turning it upside down, then proceeded to rapidly drop down to her knees, pulling Taiga's arm down, torquing it at the awkward angle she forced it in.

Taiga fell onto her back from the impact of the move, letting out a yell in pain as she held onto her left arm. Senjougahara crawled over into the cover as Referee Hagimura positioned herself to count.

"1, 2—" Taiga managed to kick out.

Senjougahara immediately sprung back up, swinging her right leg backward and then forward again, kicking Taiga's injured arm hard. Taiga held onto her left arm with her right again, her face grimacing in pain.

"It looks like Senjougahara sure did her homework." Aioi noted.

"Yep, attacking a body part is pro wrestling 101." Naganohara added. "And a smart choice to go after the arm, that's gonna take away from Taiga's brawling ability."

Like an animal stalking its prey, Senjougahara circled Taiga, who was still gripping her injured left arm. She raised her foot and gave Taiga's arm another stomp, causing her to shift away slightly, still looking to be in quite a bit of pain. Taiga began to stand up, Senjougahara still pacing close by.

Once Taiga was back up, Senjougahara pounced immediately, grabbing Taiga's left arm, turning it around by the wrist once more, then bending at the elbow. Her face still grimacing, Taiga swung on Senjougahara with her one good hand, connecting a few times but not quite enough to halt her attack.

"What's she doing now?" Aioi asked as Senjougahara began to walk backwards towards the ring ropes. Still holding onto the struggling Taiga, Senjougahara made a leap over the top rope, pulling Taiga's arm hard against the top rope as she landed on the apron.

Taiga let out a scream as her arm bounced off the top rope. She fell onto her back again, gripping her arm with her face showing her obvious pain.

Senjougahara stepped back through the middle and top ropes, dropping onto the floor to make another pin attempt on Taiga. Referee Hagimura began the count. "1, 2—" Taiga kicked out again.

"You gotta wonder if Taiga should maybe just stop kicking out." Naganohara said. "Senjougahara had a plan, and she's using it perfectly, taking out Taiga's arm."

Senjougahara rolled off of the pin attempt, looking over at Taiga, still holding onto her hurt limb. She crawled over, reaching both hands to Taiga to take hold of the arm. She sat back on the floor, pulling back on the arm.

"And an armbar by Senjougahara!" Naganohara called. "I think she's trying to end this now!"

Referee Hagimura leaned down by Taiga's pained face. "What do you say, Taiga?"

"NO!" Screamed Taiga, breathing heavily as Senjougahara continued to apply pressure on the armbar.

Taiga's face showed her agony as Senjougahara wrenched in the submission hold. With a scream she began to pull herself towards the ring ropes. Senjougahara held her hold tight, trying to keep Taiga in place. Her face strained and teeth gritted, Taiga crawled using all the strength in her one good arm and both legs, reaching her right arm towards the rope.

The crowd began to cheer loudly as Taiga inched closer, her right hand reaching for the rope. Finally, she pulled herself just enough forward to grab onto it. The audience applauded loudly at Taiga's determination.

"Alright, Senjougahara, let it go!" Referee Hagimura ordered. Senjougahara reluctantly released the armbar on Taiga, who pulled herself back up using her right arm on the ropes.

"And Taiga reaches the ropes!" Naganohara commented through the audience's cheers. "But it might be a lost cause, Senjougahara seems to have this match in control."

Senjougahara immediately approached Taiga again, who was still holding onto the ropes. Catching her from the corner of her eye, Taiga let go and made a small jump into the air, dropkicking Senjougahara in the mid-section, knocking her down onto the ground.

With Senjougahara down, Taiga began to walk forward, her left arm almost dangling from the damage inflicted on it. Senjougahara pulled herself back up, throwing out a clothesline in Taiga's direction, one which was ducked. Now looking frustrated, Senjougahara ran across the ropes, bouncing off and coming towards Taiga. Taiga dropped down, using both feet to trip up Senjougahara and pull her to the ground.

"Drop toe hold!" Naganohara commented. "And now Taiga into the cover."

Taiga had indeed jumped in for the pin, with Referee Hagimura counting. "1, 2—" Senjougahara kicked out of the attempt.

Taiga pulled away from the pin attempt, Senjougahara shaking it off rather quickly. Taiga put both hands together as Senjougahara came in close. Once her opponent came in close enough, the 'Palmtop Tiger' raised her two hands, catching Senjougahara square in the jaw.

Senjougahara took a few steps backward, putting a hand over her mouth, clearly feeling the effects. Meanwhile, Taiga shook her left arm out, grimacing again.

"Well, that probably wasn't the smartest move." Said Aioi.

"Looks like she might've aggravated that arm injury." Added Naganohara.

A look of fury came across Senjougahara's face. She began to walk towards Taiga, who was lowering herself slightly, still nursing her arm. Senjougahara reached forward for Taiga, who immediately sprung up, the top of her head catching Senjougahara in the jaw just as her previous hit had.

The audience cheered at this attack, Senjougahara falling onto her bottom from the sheer impact.

"Oh, man!" Naganohara exclaimed. "What a move!"

Breathing heavily, Taiga stared down Senjougahara, who looked even more angry now than any point in the match. Taiga crouched down slightly, her right arm going over her left again. Senjougahara closed in as she did. She made brief eye contact with Taiga, raising her hands. To her surprise, Taiga immediately jumped up, landing an uppercut once again into the chin of her opponent.

Senjougahara fell onto the mat, Taiga collapsing on top of her. Referee Hagimura counted. "1, 2, 3!"

The crowd erupted as the bell rang three times again, Taiga's entrance song subsequently airing on the speakers once more. Tenma picked up her microphone. "The winner of this match, Taiga Aisaka!"

An exhausted and pained Taiga rose up to her feet, Referee Hagimura raising her right arm in victory to the delight of the crowd.

"What a match!" Exclaimed Naganohara. "It looked like Senjougahara had it won, and she did have a great game plan, but Taiga just refused to give in!"

"Taiga sure is tough." Aioi added. "Especially for someone so small, I think she's gonna be a force to be reckoned with here!"

Taiga walked over to the ring ropes, throwing herself across the top rope, breathing a heavy sigh of relief as she rested herself on the rope. She looked out at the cheering audience, a smile coming across her face as it seemed to finally set in that she had won.

Taiga looked over to see Senjougahara roll out of the ring, a hand over her jaw, clearly hurting from the trifecta of the double-handed strike, headbutt and the final uppercut that ended things.

"And let's not forget Hitagi Senjougahara, either." Naganohara continued. "She showed a lot of wrestling knowledge in her first match, and I think her submission style is going to take her places in the future."

Taiga walked back to the middle of the ring, looking out at the ecstatic audience with a content look on her face.

"Either way, Taiga's going to round two." Continued Naganohara. "Now just for the record, her opponent will not be Rias, this tournament is not going in bracket order. But with that performance, you gotta figure her opponent's gonna have an uphill battle."

Taiga carefully exited the ring, making sure not to use her left arm too much. She made her way down the ringside area towards the ramp, smiling as she did, her entrance theme playing in the background all the while.

"Congratulations to Taiga!" Naganohara finally said.

The camera cut to the backstage area, showing Rias Gremory. She was standing by a table, drinking a bottle of tea. After her sip, she let out a sigh of relief. "Hm?"

Rias looked up to see her opponent from earlier in the night, Rikka Takanashi walking towards her.

"Hey." Rias greeted her. "Good match out there. You were a worthy opponent."

Rikka stopped in her tracks, looking at Rias intently. "Devilish one." She began. "You have banished me from the race to claim the greatest of prizes in this realm. But do not believe this will stop me from reaching the Ethereal Horizon."

Rias looked at Rikka strangely. "Um… I'm sorry, the what?"

Rikka held her index and middle finger in a V-sign over her eye patch. "And do not believe we have faced each other in the field of battle for the last time."

Rikka continued to walk down the hallway past Rias, who looked to be extremely confused by the entire conversation.

Eru Chitanda appeared on screen once again, her smiling face looking at the camera with her microphone in hand. "Please welcome my guest at this time, Ichiko Sakura!"

Chitanda's walked into view, a very good-looking girl with a unique combination of platinum hair and teal eyes. Brushing whatever dust might have been on her brown-and-blue school uniform off, she gave a smile to the camera. "Thanks, Chitanda."

"Sakura-san, I'm curious." Chitanda began. "Your match in the tournament is next week, how do you feel going into it?"

"How do I feel?" Ichiko asked with a big smile. "Well, obviously I'm not sweating it at all! I mean, I've been blessed with great fortune, after all. I'm rich, I'm beautiful, I'm popular. It only makes sense that next I'd conquer this competition after I was invited to it, right?"

"Well, I hear they do call you the 'Good Luck Girl'." Chitanda replied, smiling a bit despite the arrogance of Ichiko's words.

"Well, obviously." Ichiko replied, motioning to herself. "Could you see someone like this having bad luck, ever?"

Chitanda's eyes trailed down slightly. "Well, I hear they also do call you Ti—"

"Next question, please!" Ichiko interrupted, looking suddenly flustered.

"Right, sorry." Chitanda cleared her throat. "Sakura-san, there are rumors going around that your opponent in the first round is going to be an idol. How do you feel about that?"

Ichiko let out a brief laugh. "An idol? Please. I'm an idol who doesn't sing. Or dance. I'm not intimidated by that at all. Whoever this 'idol' is, I'm gonna beat her." She raised a clenched fist, smiling confidently. "I'm ready for this."

The show returned to the ring area, showing Tenma Tsukamoto in the middle of the ring. She raised her microphone up to her mouth once again as the bell rang three times. "The following contest is a first round match in the SHSP Championship Tournament, and is scheduled for one fall! Your referee for this bout is Iori Nagase!"

The camera focused in on the third referee of the night, a cheerful-looking girl with one pigtail, wearing her referee shirt with a plaid skirt. Nagase smiled and waved to the crowd.

"_Kioku ga hiraku oto. Kikitai kara. Kimi ni sashidasou_"

The electronic beat of the song kicked in. Out from the back emerged Chitoge, standing on the ramp, looking out at the cheering audience with a smile. She made her way down the ramp with a smile.

The camera cut to show the timekeeper Onodera, smiling and applauding happily as her friend came down the ramp.

"And Chitoge Kirisaki is the next entrant in this tournament!" Naganohara announced as the ribbon-haired girl walked down the entrance ramp. "She doesn't seem to have much formal training, but we do know this half-foreigner seems to be quite the hit anywhere she goes."

"Like a lot of the girls in this tournament, there's a lot of rumors about her, too." Aioi continued while Chitoge reached the steps of the ring. "Apparently her family's a bit… fearsome, or so they say."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I… don't think I should say." Aioi replied. "They also say on her first day of school, she kneed a scary-looking guy right in the face!"

"Kinda sounds like the rumor about Taiga Aisaka punching a tough guy from her school." Naganohara chuckled. "Thank goodness they're just rumors, right?"

Chitoge stepped through the middle and top rope, looking around at the audience. She smiled and waved at the them, receiving a loud cheer in response. After pacing around the ring a few times, she came to a stop on the far side of the ring from the entrance ramp, cracking her knuckles and looking out at the entrance way. She stretched out her arms a bit while her theme song quieted before coming to a halt.

A dramatic-sounding song, one with a militaristic feel to it, filled the arena now. Out from the back stepped Satsuki, wearing her usual stern expression. In her hand was a sword in a white sheath. The audience clamored a bit, though not breaking out into a full cheer. She came to a pause at the top of the ramp upon walking out, staring down Chitoge.

"And her opponent, Satsuki Kiryuin!"

"Here comes Satsuki." Naganohara announced. "Unlike the other entrants in this tournament, Satsuki's not just a student, she's a director of her own school, despite being of similar age to the others."

Satsuki walked down the ramp, looking straight ahead at Chitoge, who was looking back without the same confidence she had while being interviewed by Chitanda.

As she ascended the stairs, Satsuki broke her eye contact with Chitoge, wiping her boots on the ring apron before stepping through the ropes. The audience was noticeably quieter than during Chitoge's entrance, almost as if there was something awing about her.

Chitoge moved from her position as Satsuki came closer, gently laying her sword down on the side of the ring farthest from the entrance.

"I wonder what that sword's for." Aioi pondered. "I mean, it's not like she can use it."

"Well, she is used to sword-fighting above all else, maybe she still feels like she should have it for battle even if it's not going to be used."

"Or maybe she brings it to intimidate her opponents!"

"I don't think she even needed to, Aioi." Naganohara noted. "In case you haven't noticed, that's a scary young lady."

Her comment wasn't far off the mark, the look on the dark-haired girl's face seemed to be sapping Chitoge of her confidence by the second.

Referee Nagase motioned for the two competitors to come to the center of the ring. They followed the order, and the two made eye contact once more. Satsuki's unyielding stare continued, Chitoge looking cautiously at her opponent.

With that, Referee Nagase motioned to Onodera, and the bell rang three times.

"And here we go, final match of the night is underway!" Naganohara commented.

Chitoge took several steps back, putting up both fists. Satsuki, on the other hand, remained in place, watching her opponent. The ring was still with the two eying one another down.

Chitoge began to move in slowly, her fists still up. Her speed accelerated as she went in towards her opponent, who raised one hand, throwing it into Chitoge's clavicle and shoving her down to the mat.

This push sent Chitoge tumbling on the mat a few times. She pulled herself up to a kneeling position, seeing Satsuki still standing firmly in place. Frustration was immediately setting in on her face in the opening moments of the match.

Finally, Satsuki began to step forward, approaching Chitoge who was beginning to stand up again. With Satsuki closing in, Chitoge sprung back up, throwing out a fist in Satsuki's direction. It was caught immediately by Satsuki's left hand. Her right hand immediately went underneath Chitoge's arm, Satsuki using her strength to lift the blonde off the ground and toss her to the mat once again. Chitoge landed back-first, rolling a few times across the mat.

The darker-haired girl continued to close in on Chitoge, who now found herself backing away.

"I think Kirisaki might be regretting underestimating her opponent." Naganohara commented. "Even with no power suit and no sword, it looks like she's plenty strong."

Both hands on the mat, Chitoge began to pull herself up. Satsuki was there in an instant, raising one leg to hit Chitoge in the ribs with a hard kick, receiving a loud shout 'Oh!' from the audience.

Chitoge fell on her back again, grimacing in pain from the move. She had no time to recover, as Satsuki yanked Chitoge back up with both hands, pulling her up by her uniform. Pulling her off the ground by a bit, Satsuki pushed Chitoge into the corner, then proceeded to raise her left leg, planting her heel boot into Chitoge's neck, using her lower body to push on Chitoge's neck, Chitoge struggling as she was pushed into the corner.

Referee Nagase immediately ran over. "Hey, that's enough, Kiryuin, out of the corner!" She ordered. "1, 2, 3—"

Satsuki brought her leg down, giving a dirty look to Nagase, who flinched a bit upon seeing it. Chitoge took a few steps out of the corner, both hands on her throat and coughing loudly. Almost on instinct, Satsuki swung around from facing Nagase to bring her hand down against the side of Chitoge's neck in a chop-like move.

The familiar sight of Chitoge on the mat was on view once more, Satsuki staring coldly down at her opponent. She took a few steps back, Chitoge still struggling to pull herself up. Lying in wait, Satsuki prepared herself as Chitoge got back up. Once she did, Satsuki pounced, running at Chitoge and placing both hands around her head before dropping to the ground, pulling Chitoge down hard, neck-first into the mat.

"Spinning neckbreaker by Satsuki!" Naganohara commented. "She has absolutely dominated this match so far. And now the cover."

Referee Nagase got down onto the mat to count. "1, 2—" Chitoge rolled her shoulder off the mat.

Satsuki let out a sigh of annoyance, glaring down at her opponent as she got back up. She reached a hand down, grabbing Chitoge's uniform around the shoulder to pull her back up. She got the pained Chitoge back up, but immediately felt a strike to her stomach.

The crowd popped as Chitoge finally landed an attack, her punch startling Satsuki from the looks of it. Her face full of anger, Chitoge switched to a left punch to hit Satsuki's midsection, then went back to the right, going back and forth with as many as she could. The audience's cheers grew louder as Chitoge continued swinging on Satsuki.

"Chitoge finally getting into the match now!" Naganohara spectated. "It looks like Satsuki wasn't expecting this!"

Satsuki soon found herself backed up, using her hands to shield as Chitoge tried her best to keep the strikes going on Satsuki. Chitoge's fist moved upwards, going for Satsuki's head now. The punch missed, allowing her opponent to duck down. Satsuki immediately grabbed hold of her opponent, bringing her knee up into Chitoge's stomach, bringing the flurry of offense to an abrupt halt.

"Oh, gosh!" Groaned Aioi. "That knee looked like it hurt."

Chitoge backed up, gasping for breath as she put both hands over her midsection. Satsuki wasted no time in continuing, grabbing Chitoge by her hair before doubling her over, throwing one arm over Chitoge's neck. Satsuki lowered her own head, pulling Chitoge's arm out of the way to grip Chitoge by the waist, lifting her into the air for a vertical suplex.

The crowd clamored at the surprising show of strength, Satsuki holding Chitoge upside down in the air. Satsuki dropped backwards, slamming Chitoge onto the ground with a crash.

"Picture-perfect vertical suplex by Satsuki Kiryuin!" Naganohara called. "Not surprising that someone like her would come prepared with pro wrestling techniques."

Satsuki crawled over Chitoge for another pinfall. Referee Nagase counted. "1, 2—" Another kick-out by Chitoge.

Another annoyed groan left Satsuki's mouth, glaring angrily down at her hurting opponent. Chitoge's eyes were shut tightly, her face grimacing. With a sigh, Satsuki stood up once again, pulling Chitoge with her. Holding onto one wrist, Satsuki whipped Chitoge in the direction of the ropes. Chitoge bounced off the ropes towards the waiting Satsuki, who raised one leg for a side kick. Surprisingly, Chitoge managed to duck, rolling underneath the kick.

A stunned look came across Satsuki's face as she turned around, seeing Chitoge, breathing heavily and standing by the ropes, staring with a determined look. Satsuki turned and charged towards Chitoge. Chitoge dropped down, pulling down the top rope, leaving Satsuki to tumble over upon missing. The dark-haired girl tumbled off the apron, landing on the floor.

Naganohara clamored at this. "And Chitoge is letting Satsuki know she's not done yet!"

"She does look like she's taken quite a bit of punishment though." Aioi added.

Chitoge stood, still breathing heavily, the damage from the match showing. Satsuki was pulling herself back up on the outside. With one deep breath, Chitoge dashed to the closest corner, climbing up to the top turnbuckle.

"What the heck is she doing?!" Exclaimed Aioi.

The audience began to clamor again as Chitoge looked down, now standing at a pretty remarkable height in the air. Fists clenched, Chitoge leapt off the top rope to the awe of everyone in the arena. Satsuki could only look up to see Chitoge coming down, both of her stocking-clad knees closing in.

The crowd cheered loudly upon the sight of both knees slamming Satsuki in the face, sending her crashing to the ground and rolling across the ringside area. Chitoge landed on the floor, just a few steps from where she hit the knee.

"Incredible!" Shouted Naganohara. "What a move! From the top rope, a high risk maneuver that paid off!"

Chitoge looked almost shocked at what she had just pulled off. She immediately rolled back into the ring, now taking her time in getting back up, with Satsuki on the outside.

Looking to the outside of the ring, Referee Nagase began to count. "1! 2!"

"Just a reminder to the viewers, Kiryuin-san now has a 10 count." Naganohara informed them. "If she doesn't get back in, she loses."

"3!" Nagase called out. "4!"

Chitoge pulled herself back up with the ropes. She looked to the outside, where Satsuki was starting to get back up again. Her face was immediately showing the visible effects of the move, discoloration starting. She walked towards the ring, stumbling slightly.

"5!" Nagase counted as Satsuki came closer. "6!"

Satsuki finally reached the ring, reaching for the ropes.

"7!" Nagase counted. Satsuki grabbed hold of the bottom rope and rolled herself back in. It took only a second before the determined Chitoge pounced, jumping on Satsuki before she could get up, going for striking attacks. Satsuki managed to shove Chitoge off, immediately getting back up to her feet. This did little to deter the suddenly determined Chitoge, who charged back in, tackling Satsuki into the corner.

"And Chitoge's a house of fire!" Naganohara commented. "After that knee it looks like she really got into the match, and she wants to win this!"

Satsuki was now in the corner after being pushed into it by Chitoge. Chitoge walked up to the middle rope as the crowd cheered on. Satsuki's eyes opened as Chitoge looked down, fist raised. She brought it down with punches as the arena counted along.

"1! 2! 3! 4! 5! 6! 7! 8! 9—" Chitoge found herself interrupted at the ninth, as Satsuki mustered enough strength to give her a hard shove.

Caught off-guard, Chitoge was sent flying from the middle rope, landing hard on her upper back and neck area. Satsuki finally was able to catch her breath, pulling herself from the corner of the ring. Chitoge, on the other hand, didn't seem to take the fall too well, holding her head and neck with both arms. She rolled over onto her stomach, shaking slightly.

"Man, Chitoge really took a hard fall there." Aioi commented.

"After that flurry of offense, she was taken down." Naganohara added. "And now Satsuki looking to capitalize."

Satsuki walked over to the ropes, staring intensely at her fallen opponent. She took a few steps forward towards Chitoge, raising one heel into the air before bringing it down, stomping the back of Chitoge's head into the mat, a loud 'Oh!' from the audience following.

"Oh, man!" Cried Aioi. "Satsuki with a hard stomp to the mat! Is that enough?"

Satsuki had almost had a look of disgust as she stared down at Chitoge, who weakly rolled over onto her back with what appeared to be the last of her strength. Satsuki planted one heel on Chitoge's stomach. Referee Nagase dropped to the mat to count the pinfall. "1, 2, 3!"

The bell rang three times, with the timekeeper Onodera wearing a devastated look as she looked at the outcome.

"This winner of this match, Satsuki Kiryuin!" Tenma announced.

Referee Nagase raised Satsuki's hand in victory as the song she entered to played throughout the arena again.

"And Satsuki Kiryuin gets the victory and advances to round two along with Rias Gremory and Taiga Aisaka." Naganohara said. "A good effort by Chitoge, though, you can't discount that she put up a good fight, but she was outmatched."

"I think she kinda brought that outcome on herself." Aioi added. "She said earlier, 'What's she gonna do, beat me by stepping on me?', and, well, she did!"

"Well, putting that aside, it seems that even without her sword or her special power suit, Satsuki Kiryuin is a formidable opponent."

Satsuki picked up her sword from the side of the ring, strolling past Chitoge, who was currently being checked on by Nagase. She didn't even spare Chitoge so much as a glance, silently stepping through the ropes. The match's victor hopped off the apron, standing in front of the ring, looking out at the arena with the reserved look she usually wore. With one final glance around, she made her way back up the ramp.

"I wonder who the heck's gonna beat her?" Aioi wondered while the arena watched Satsuki depart. "She might end up being the champion at this rate!"

As she reached the top of the ramp, Satsuki turned her head slightly, looking back at the ring before disappearing through the entrance way she entered through, her song blaring throughout the arena still.

"Thank you for joining us, everyone!" Naganohara commented. "Don't forget to join us next week as the tournament continues! Good night!"


	2. 11-24

"Welcome to SHSP!" Mio Naganohara's voice welcomed the audience as the camera panned around the arena.

Inside of the ring was the announcer Tenma Tsukamoto, and just a few steps away was Touko Fukawa, nervously looking around.

"The tournament to crown our champion continues tonight!" Aioi continued. "Once again, we are your commentary team, Yukko Aioi and Mio Naganohara!"

"And starting things off tonight is Touko Fukawa." Naganohara narrated as the camera focused on the anxious Fukawa, both of her hands holding onto her shirt. "Interestingly enough, Fukawa-san actually turned down an entrance."

"Really?"

"Yes, apparently she thought it was embarrassing enough coming down with the audience watching, let alone in front of all the viewers." Replied Naganohara. "Nonetheless, she actually tried to get out of the tournament, but our General Manager, Junko Enoshima, insisted that she participate."

"You gotta wonder what it is that she sees in Touko Fukawa, though." Replied Aioi. "I'm sure wondering…"

Fukawa began to pace nervously in the ring as the bell rang three times. Referee Suzu Hagimura entered the ring, and Tenma picked up her microphone. "The following contest is a first round match in the SHSP Championship Tournament, and is scheduled for one fall! Introducing first, already in the ring, Touko Fukawa!"

Fukawa skittishly turned away from the audience's rather mixed reaction, looking at the floor rather than at the audience.

"_Churu churu churu payapa_" The words rang out across the arena through the speakers, turning into a the beginnings of a dance beat, the arena's lighting corresponding with colored lights in a bouncy pattern. "_Disco lady, disco lady, deep emotion, deep emotion_"

The song's beat slowly began to build up, and as it kicked in full-beat, the shape of a young lady came through the curtain. An extremely distinctive head of very long pink hair came into view, on the head of a quite pretty girl, clad in a teal school uniform. She came out with a smile.

"And her opponent, Moka Akashiya!"

Moka came walking down the ramp energetically, a smile on her face as she immediately made her way to the side of the entrance ramp, high-fiving the audience members while making her way down.

Naganohara commented through Moka's entrance. "And here comes Moka Akashiya. We know she comes to us from a school called 'Yokai Academy'."

"Yokai?" Aioi asked. "That's a weird name for a school."

"Yeah, it is." Naganohara replied. "And apparently this Moka herself actually has never been much of a fighter, and that the 'other Moka' does the fighting most of the time."

"'Other Moka'?" Asked Aioi, sounding even more confused. "What does that even mean?"

"Honestly? I have no clue."

The joyous Moka slapped the hand of the last fan on the ramp on the way to the ring as she made her way up the set of steps by ringside. She took a few steps onto the apron, motioning to the crowd, who expressed a bit of excitement.

"And it looks like Moka's already a hit with the crowd." Naganohara commented.

"The difference between the two of them is like night and day…" Aioi added.

Fukawa's expression had change from nervous to almost angry, seeming almost resentful as she watched Moka step through the middle and top ropes, making her way into the ring. Moka stepped onto the second rope, excitedly playing to the crowd once again, unaware of Fukawa's death stare.

Moka hopped off the ropes, heading for the center of the ring, as did both Fukawa and Referee Hagimura, Tenma taking her leave from the ring. The pink-haired competitor's happy look quickly faded as she noticed the spiteful stare in Fukawa's eyes.

Looking between the two of them, Referee Hagimura motioned to the timekeeper Kosaki Onodera, who rang the bell three times.

"And here we go, our first match of the night." Naganohara said.

Referee Hagimura took a few steps back, leaving space between her and the two competitors in the match.

Moka started off, moving in closer to Fukawa, who didn't seem to move much, looking awkwardly at Moka and making a meek attempt to put her hands up.

The two closed in on each other. Moka spun her body around, ending up behind Fukawa, locking in a waistlock, holding onto her by the waist and applying pressure. Fukawa began to flail about, almost as if she didn't know what to do next.

"Moka starting with a waistlock, Fukawa… looks confused." Commented Naganohara.

Moka wrestled Fukawa down to the ground from the waistlock position, switching herself over into a pinfall attempt. Referee Hagimura made the count. "1, 2,—" Fukawa kicked out.

Moka stood up again and stepped backwards, allowing Fukawa a few seconds to recover. Fukawa sluggishly pulled herself back up, looking even more perturbed. Moka looked to her opponent with a bit of confusion.

"I think Fukawa might've been right to not want to be in this." Aioi said as the two in the ring paced slightly. "She is really not cut out for this."

"It's still early, the match just started." Responded Naganohara.

Moka approached Fukawa, extending a hand out in her direction. Fukawa's eyes began to dart around uncomfortably before returning to Moka, as she extended her own right hand out. The two made contact, with Moka immediately springing into contact, grabbing hold of Fukawa's wrist with both hands.

"First a waistlock, now the wristlock." Naganohara commented. "Surprising wrestling knowledge here from Moka."

Fukawa grimaced as Moka held onto her wrist. She dropped down onto one knee as Moka continued to apply the pressure. After only a few seconds of this, stepped over Fukawa's arm with one leg, turning around to face her again, now with Fukawa's arm seemingly trapped. With that, Moka climbed over Fukawa, pulling her to the mat and turning her over onto her back in a pinning predicament.

"Wow, a La Magistral Cradle!" Exclaimed Naganohara as Referee Hagimura went in for the count. "1, 2, no! Fukawa manages to get out of it."

After managing to get her shoulder up with just enough strength to force Moka to break her hold, Fukawa crawled away. She held onto one of the ropes, starting to pull herself up, a look of upset frustration etched on her face.

"It's like they're total opposites." Aioi began, watching the two recover. "Moka's showing some pretty impressive wrestling knowledge, and Fukawa's… um… hanging in there!"

"We do know that Akashiya-san was at the top of her class in Yokai Academy, so it's not much of a surprise she'd have done her homework before competing." Naganohara replied.

Fukawa just started to walk out of the far side of the ring before she saw Moka come running in, making a short hop to hit a dropkick. Fukawa was caught in the stomach and sent through the middle and top ropes, tumbling out to the floor as the audience cheered Moka's athletic display.

"And there she goes…" Aioi flatly commented.

Fukawa got up to her hands and knees, staring frustratedly at the floor, teeth gritted, looking almost as if tears were about to start coming. She stood up again, face turned downwards. The audience watched curiously as she stood in place.

Meanwhile, in the ring, Referee Hagimura began her count. "1! 2!"

"An impressive dropkick from Moka, but now Fukawa's gotta get back in before the ten count." Naganohara said. "Doesn't look like she's in a hurry to, though…"

"3! 4!"

Fukawa glanced up at Moka in the ring, her opponent looking almost concerned. Fukawa turned around, making her way down the aisle.

"What the?!" Aioi shouted. "She's leaving?!"

"5! 6!" Referee Hagimura counted as Fukawa walked away from the ring. The audience began to show their displeasure, booing loudly.

Fukawa paused in her walk, looking around nervously.

"7!" Referee Hagimura called out. "8!"

With a deep breath, Fukawa turned around and backtracked back to the ring, sliding in just as the count reached '9".

"Looks like she changed her mind." Naganohara noted. The crowd applauded slightly at Fukawa's return to the ring.

Moka approached Fukawa slowly, dropping her arms to her side as she did. "Are you okay?" She could be heard asking as the arena quieted down.

Fukawa turned her body slightly, glancing at Moka from the corner of her eye. She raised her right hand, delivering a chop to Moka's clavicle area. Moka let out a gasp, turning around and putting a hand over the area that had just been hit.

"Fukawa finally gets into this!" Naganohara exclaimed.

"Looks like her chest got hit hard, she's holding onto it pretty tight…"

"No wait, look!" Naganohara replied. "She's not holding her chest, it looks like… she's holding onto the rosary?"

Indeed, Moka's hands were over the rosary, clutched tightly.

"I guess she doesn't want to lose it?" Aioi's confused voice continued.

Moka looked back at her opponent, seeing her approaching, a bit of aggressiveness now showing in her. Fukawa walked towards Moka with energy that wasn't present previously. In doing so, she walked right into Moka as she threw out a kick from her sideways facing position, her side kick catching Fukawa hard in the stomach.

Fukawa let out a heavy breath, clutching her stomach and doubling over. She couldn't react and only watch as she watched Moka run to the other side of the ring, bouncing off the ropes and coming back fast. She made a leap into the air, raising her right leg high above the air and bringing it down onto the back of Fukawa's back, dropping her to the mat.

"What a scissors kick by Moka!" Naganohara excitedly exclaimed. "Will this end it?"

Moka dropped onto the mat, turning Fukawa onto her back and hooking her leg for the pinfall. Referee Hagimura counted. "1, 2, 3!"

The bell rang three times and Moka's entrance theme filled the arena once more.

Tenma picked up her microphone again. "The winner of this match, Moka Akashiya!"

Moka smiled happily as Referee Hagimura raised her arm in victory, albeit with some difficulty due to the referee's small stature.

"Well, that was a weird match." Aioi commented.

"It was, but an impressive showing for Moka Akashiya." Replied Naganohara. "She's gonna join Rias, Taiga and Satsuki in the second round!"

Moka looked down, putting her hands over the rosary over her chest, looking down on it, making sure it was still attached. She let go with a satisfied look, running over to the corner to hop onto the second rope. She waved happily to the cheering crowd.

A groggy Fukawa rolled outside of the ring, falling from the apron to the floor.

"You gotta wonder what General Manager Enoshima was thinking though." Naganohara said. "She said she saw something in Fukawa, but… that wasn't good."

"No, it wasn't."

Moka climbed out of the ring, running to ringside to once again give high-fives to the audience.

Aioi continued "Still, Moka looked great here, regardless of who she was up against."

Moka made her way back up the entrance ramp, high-fiving the last few fans on the way up. Upon reaching the top, she smiled, waving to the cheering crowd.

The scene cut to the backstage area, showing the duo of Rias Gremory and Taiga Aisaka standing around and chatting. Taiga's arm was out of her uniform, applying an ice pack to her elbow joint.

"So, who do you think would win if we end up against each other in round two?" Rias asked, giving Taiga a playful smirk.

Taiga removed the ice pack from her elbow, crossing her arms while glancing to Rias. "You really need to ask?"

Rias chuckled. "Yeah, me of course." She laughed, recieving an unamused look from Taiga. "Anyway, hey, I meant to ask, but do you know what the deal is with that Takanashi girl?"

"What deal?" Asked Taiga. "She's just a nut. Everyone who's ever met her knows it. I just saw her earlier going on about some horizon and something about magical contracts."

"Hm…" Rias looked a bit perturbed. "I don't know, she kinda weirded me out last week."

"Who cares? You already won the match, it's over. She's not the only one, though, that Senjougahara seemed kind of—" Taiga stopped mid-sentence. The attention of the two of them turned to Satsuki Kiryuin walking by them. Noticeably, there was a small bit of bruising above her nose.

"Hey, there." Rias greeted her.

Satsuki responded with a slight nod. "Rias Gremory."

"So, that was impressive last week." Rias continued.

"I don't compete for praise." Satsuki replied coldly, turning away from Rias. "I compete to become a champion."

Taiga gave Satsuki a somewhat irritated look from the corner of her eye.

"Oh, hey." The attention of the three turned to see the arrival to Chitoge Kirisaki, who was wearing a small bandage over her nose.

"Chitoge Kirisaki." Satsuki greeted her.

"So, I was wrong." Chitoge replied. "Even without weapons and a power suit, you're pretty strong. Well, I guess you need to have something going for you, I mean, you're not going to be a draw for SHSP with a face like that, right?" Chitoge concluded with a devilish smirk.

Satsuki turned around completely. "Excuse me?"

"Well, I mean, who's gonna buy T-shirts with the face of someone with eyebrows like that?" Chitoge laughed loudly.

An angry stare came to Satsuki's face. She reached out and grabbed Chitoge by the shirt, immediately bringing an end to her laughter.

"Hey, hey!" Rias shouted, she and Taiga immediately rushing in to separate the two of them.

Satsuki stared angrily at Chitoge. "You're awfully arrogant for someone I stomped into the ground last week. Be glad our match already happened."

"Yeah, yeah." Chitoge replied dismissively, waving her hand. She turned and walked away from the others.

"Well, that was uncomfortable." Rias commented, stepping away from Satsuki after having been keeping her from Chitoge.

"Geez, talk about a tsundere." Taiga commented, shaking her head.

The camera now focused on SHSP's backstage interviewer, Eru Chitanda.

"Hello, everyone!" She greeted the viewers. "Please welcome my guests at this time, Saeko Busujima and Saya Takagi!"

Two girls in the same white-and-green school uniform walked into the frame. The taller of the two had a head of long, purple hair, and was holding a wooden sword in her hand. Her associate had pink hair tied into a pair of pigtails, adjusting her glasses as she walked to the opposite side of Chitanda that the other girl stood on.

"Busujima-san, Takagi-san, I'm curious, what are your thoughts on the tournament and participating in SHSP?"

The pink-haired girl leaned into the microphone. "First off, let me just clarify something for the viewers at home. I'm Saya Takagi, and I'm Saeko Busujima's manager. And just for the record, she and I aren't friends. This is business. The Takagi family is successful because we know good opportunities when we see them. And there was no better one than this one here." She continued in her serious tone. "Saeko was unbeatable in kendo. And I know she can't use a sword in the ring, but she's tough regardless. Her reflexes are incredible. And I know she'll easily beat anyone."

"Ooh." An impressed Chitanda replied. "Busujima-san, do you have anything to add to that?"

Saeko paused momentarily while glancing down at the microphone Chitanda held for no. "Hm… no, not really."

"I see." Chitanda continued cheerfully. "Well, do the two of you have any thoughts about Saeko's match tonight with Yurippe Nakamura?"

"I have a thought." Takagi pulled Chitanda's microphone over to her. "What makes her think she's so great? She founded some club full of weirdos called the SSS? Really, who cares? Doesn't matter though, she's just gonna be a small speed bump on the road to Saeko Busujima becoming the first ever SHSP Champion."

"And Saeko, do you have anything to add?"

Saeko shook her head. "Not really." She looked up to the camera with a half-smile that almost looked cordial. "See you in the ring, Yurippe."

With that, the duo walked off.

"Thank you!" Chitanda called out. "Back to you at ringside!"

The camera went back to the ringside area, which was now very dark, the lights apparently having dimmed significantly.

Tenma's voice filled the arena. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the girls of 765 Pro!"

The audience cheered momentarily through the darkness and silence. And then, the sound of music filled the arena.

"_Are you ready? I'm lady! Hajimeyou! Yareba dekiru, kitto, zettai, watashi number one!_"

The bang of pyrotechnics went off on either side of the stage, bringing the lights on, showing a group of twelve girls in matching green-and-yellow outfits on the stage, dancing in unison to the music. The audience clamored in appreciation for the show they were seeing as the song continued.

"_Start hajimaru kyou no stage_ " They sang while they danced in time. " _Check maiku meiku-ishou it's show time_! _Try challenge! Stardom hikari hikaru spotlight! Mabushi kagayaki massugu debut!_"

The idols' routine went on smoothly as the song went to its next part. _"Yume wa kanau mono, watashi shinjiteru! Saa ichi tsuite let's go!"_

With a shout of "YEAH!", the girls changed formation, leaving one idol standing in front. She turned around, waving to the others as she started down the entrance way, her long, navy blue ponytail waving behind.

The song continued on as the one idol pranced down the entrance way. "_Are you ready? I'm lady! Uta wo utaou! Hitosu hitotsu, egao to namida wa, yume ni naru entertainment_!"

The one competing idol looked into the camera and sang along with the others during her entrance. "_Are you ready? I'm lady! Hajimeyou! Yareba dekiru, kitto, zettai, watashi number one_!"

The blue-eyed idol entered the ring as the song's instrumental portion came to an end. She struck a pose in the center of the ring, the idols on the ramp doing the same, as the pyrotechnics went off in one burst again, this time both on the entrance ramp and in all four corners of the ring.

The audience erupted into cheers and applause at the conclusion of the song. The idol in the ring hopped up onto the second rope, motioning to the crowd with a big smile on her face.

The following contest is a first round match in the SHSP Championship Tournament, and is scheduled for one fall! Introducing first, representing 765 Pro, Hibiki Ganaha!"

Hibiki raised her arms high in the air to more cheers. The camera cut to show her fellow idols on stage cheering for her.

Hibiki hopped down, jogging over to the far side of the ring.

The speakers started again, this time starting with a chorus of "_Yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah_".

The idols separated into two groups on either side of the entrance way to make room for the next entrance. Out from the back stepped Ichiko Sakura, looking as confident as ever, arms out at her sides, almost as if she was expecting a big hero's welcome. And despite her arrogant demeanor, she seemed to be well-received, cheers emanating from the audience.

"And her opponent, Ichiko Sakura!"

Ichiko strolled past the idols without so much of an aside glance, big smile on her face as she walked down towards the ring.

"And our next match, Hibiki Ganaha going one-on-one with Ichiko Sakura." Naganohara commented. "What an entrance for Hibiki though, you'd expect as much from a group of idols, though."

"The people don't seem to love Ichiko quite as much though." Aioi noted, referencing the lukewarm reaction the narcissistic Ichiko received.

Ichiko took her time ascending the steel steps, her self-assured smile seemingly stuck on her face. She took a few steps across the apron, climbing through the ropes. She stepped up onto the middle turnbuckle in the corner, attempting to play towards the crowd.

She jumped down, and out of the corner of her eye, saw Hibiki walking over to the side of the ring with the steps. Ichiko, along with the rest of the audience, watched curiously as Hibiki reached onto her head, and proceeded to pull a hamster out from her hair.

"What the?" Aioi asked curiously.

Hibiki kneeled down, placing the hamster on the steel steps. She said something inaudible to the rest of the audience, before giving her hamster a wink.

A moment later, Hibiki felt herself being knocked to the mat, courtesy of a kick to the midsection from Ichiko. The young idol turned over, hand over the spot she got kicked, looking up angrily at Ichiko.

"Oh, now that was uncalled for!" Naganohara criticized, the audience seemingly thought so as well, judging from the boos emanating from them.

Referee Nagase promptly got between the two, pushing Ichiko towards the center of the ring. "Come on, Sakura, back off! The match hasn't started yet!"

"She's bringing vermin in the arena!" Ichiko shouted, pointing to Hibiki's hamster.

Hibiki stood up, an angry stare fixed on her face. She went running across the ring, past Referee Nagase, tackling Ichiko to the crowd to a loud pop from the crowd. Ichiko found herself on the end of onslaught of strikes from Hibiki, doing her best to guard against them.

"Ring the bell, ring the bell!" Referee Nagase shouted, motioning to Onodera at the timekeeper's table. The bell rang three times.

"And I guess now we're officially underway." Naganohara commented. "Hibiki's pretty mad, now. She does love her pets a lot, so, hearing them called vermin probably made her angrier than that kick did."

Hibiki continued to rain blows on Ichiko, who continued to try to guard against them. She raised both legs and used them to push on Hibiki, successfully managing to push her angry opponent off of her. Hibiki sprung back up quickly, but Ichiko was already in the process of rolling out of the ring under the bottom rope.

Taking a deep breath, Ichiko took a few steps away from the ring, one hand on her hand. She looked up to see Hibiki standing by the ropes, staring down at Ichiko.

"Come on, Sakura, back in the ring!" Referee Nagase shouted out to her. "1! 2!"

Ichiko grumbled angrily, walking back towards the ring apron, glancing away from her opponent. As she reached for the bottom rope, she failed to notice that Hibiki was making a running start, dropping to the mat to slide into Ichiko's face with a kick, to the delight of the crowd. The 'Good Luck Girl' tumbled backwards, hitting the barricade on the outside. Hibiki, meanwhile, held up her arms, playing to the cheering audience.

"What a sliding kick by Hibiki, she's taking control quickly." Naganohara commented. "Ichiko getting on Hibiki's bad side probably wasn't a good choice."

Meanwhile, Nagase was still continuing the count. "7!" She called out. "8!"

Gritting her teeth angrily, Ichiko dashed back to the ring, sliding under the bottom rope again. She began to stand, only to see Hibiki coming close again, and promptly fell onto her bottom. Ichiko quickly crawled towards the corner as her opponent came in after her. Ichiko grabbed hold of the rope, pulling herself up just as Hibiki came in close. Ichiko managed to bring her leg up to land a kick to Hibiki's midsection. Taking advantage of her brief opening, Ichiko followed with a backhand slap to the face, sending Hibiki reeling back a few steps, and eliciting a loud 'Ohhh!' from the crowd.

"Ooh, that looked like it hurt." Aioi said.

Hibiki put one hand over her face where she had just been slapped, looking at Ichiko, whose confident smile had now returned, a sharp contrast from how frustrated Hibiki now looked. The darker-haired girl immediately charged in towards Ichiko, Ichiko bringing her arm up and swinging on Hibiki, almost on instinct. Hibiki ducked this blow, turning to bounce off the opposite rope and come running back. Hibiki made a small leap into the air, turning her body into a diving cross-body block, taking Ichiko down to the ground.

Referee Nagase dropped to the mat to count. "1, 2—" Ichiko kicked out.

"Only a two count on the crossbody." Naganohara narrated. "I think Ichiko underestimated her opponent, probably due to the fact that she's an idol. But apparently Hibiki Ganaha is considered one of the most athletic of 765 Pro, other than a member by the name of Makoto Kikuchi, who, unfortunately, was initially denied entry into SHSP because… they thought she was a guy."

Hibiki hopped back up after her pinfall attempt. Her opponent attempted to do the same, only to be interrupted as Hibiki immediately hopped into the air, turning to drop an elbow onto the prone Ichiko. Hibiki went for a second pinfall.

"1, 2—" Another kick out.

Hibiki sprung up again, dropping a second elbow drop. She went for a third pin.

"1, 2—" Yet again, Ichiko got the shoulder up, looking more pained.

And once more, Hibiki was back up. She made the leap up again, this time her elbow hitting the mat as Ichiko finally managed to roll away. The missed elbow left Hibiki on the ground, gripping her right arm. Sensing her chance, Ichiko hopped onto Hibiki for a pin attempt of her own.

"1, 2—" Hibiki kicked out quite energetically.

"Ichiko dodges the trifecta of elbow drops." Naganohara began. "Hibiki's definitely got an energetic in-ring style that it's probably gonna be tough to keep up with."

With a sigh, Ichiko stood back up, pausing to map out her next plan of attack. She reached down, grabbing Hibiki by the left wrist and pulling her back up. Her next move was immediately thwarted, as Hibiki gave her an irish whip into the corner immediately, despite her hurt arm. Ichiko landed back-first in the corner, and before she knew it, looked up to see Hibiki barreling across the ring towards her, jumping up to land a high dropkick right on Ichiko's chin.

The dazed Ichiko stumbled out of the corner, right to the waiting Hibiki, who reached down, seizing Ichiko's legs and pulling forward, sending Ichiko dropping back-first to the mat, with Hibiki holding onto her. Hibiki turned her body around, pulling Ichiko's with her, so that now she was facing away from the corner, still holding onto Ichiko.

"And what does she have planned here?" Aioi wondered.

Hibiki looked out to the audience, who cheered. Hibiki dropped backwards while still holding onto Ichiko's legs, letting go as the momentum brought Ichiko back up, sending her platinum-haired opponent face-first into the turnbuckle. Ichiko teetered out of the corner, one hand on her temple. Still on the mat, Hibiki reached up, pulling Ichiko back down onto her back for a roll-up pin.

"1, 2—" Yet another kick out from Ichiko.

A look of confusion started to cross Hibiki's face. She stood back up again, searching for what to do next.

"Hibiki's high-energy in-ring style has kept Ichiko on the ropes, but she can't seem to keep her down." Naganohara observed. "And—wait, it looks like she's gonna go for a high risk maneuver!"

Hibiki ran to the corner, turning her back to it to face back towards her opponent, hopping up to the middle rope. The audience clamored in excitement to see Hibiki go high up. She looked down for a moment before hopping off, dropping down towards Ichiko. Ichiko's eyes shot wide open, and on instinct she rolled away, leaving Hibiki to crash hard onto the mat.

Ichiko crawled away, trying to catch her breath. She saw Hibiki turn over, managing to get onto her knees, with both hands on the sides of her head, her face grimaced in pain.

"That looked like it really hurt." Aioi commented, noticing Hibiki struggling to recover after the missed move.

"That really wasn't a small fall, Aioi." Naganohara responded. "That could've ended the match if it connected. What's Ichiko's next move here?"

Still watching Hibiki attempt to pull herself together, Ichiko stood up again, readying herself for her next move. Hibiki began to groggily pull herself up. Ichiko backed up a few steps, springing off the ropes and charging in, throwing her arm out for a clothesline, catching Hibiki across the chest and knocking her unprepared opponent back down. Ichiko wasted no time going for another pin.

"1, 2—" Hibiki rolled her shoulder up before Referee Nagase counted three.

"She stays in it!" Naganohara exclaimed.

Ichiko got up again, her opponent struggling to do the same. Ichiko took a few steps back and forth, her confident seemingly drained. She found herself behind Hibiki, who was attempting to step back up. With a loud yell, Ichiko threw herself forward, wrapping her left arm underneath Hibiki's chin, interlocking it with her right, which was now pressed against the side of Hibiki's head, using both arms to apply pressure to the struggling idol.

"Ichiko locks in the sleeper hold!" Naganohara shouted. "This move has been used effectively in wrestling for many years, and with Hibiki still hurting from that dive, this might be enough to finish things!"

Hibiki struggled as Ichiko cinched in the hold, the 'Good Luck GIrl's eyes shut tightly, teeth gritted and face straining as she used as much strength as she could muster into her sleeper hold. Hibiki's energy level began to falter with each second of feeling the pressure from the sleeper.

The view of the camera cut to the entrance ramp, showing the rest of the 765 Pro girls shouting out words of encouragement to Hibiki.

"The other members of Hibiki's group are cheering for her, but I don't think that's gonna pull her out of that move." Aioi commented.

"Ichiko's really cinching it in, I think she realizes this is her best chance to get the win!"

Hibiki continued to fight against Ichiko's sleeper hold, despite her energy fading and her reduced breaths. Referee Nagase made her way closer to the action, checking in as Hibiki's attempt to break the hold slowed. She reached out, picking up one of Hibiki's arms. She let it go, the arm dropping limply to her side. "1!" She called out.

"if she can't respond to three consecutive attempts, the match will be called in Ichiko's favor!" Naganohara exclaimed. "I'm not liking Hibiki's chances here."

Nagase raised Hibiki's hand a second time, it fell again. "2!"

Everyone watched intently as Nagase reached over a third time, the audience watching quietly, and the other idols shouting their cheers from the entrance way.

Nagase lifted Hibiki's arm up for a third time, and let it go. It fell slightly, only for Hibiki to raise it up. The audience began to cheer loudly at this.

"She's still in it!" Aioi exclaimed. "Hibiki's not out yet!"

Ichiko's eyes opened wide in disbelief at this. Hibiki let out a yell, and with what strength she had, lifted her legs off the ground, throwing Ichiko off-balance, sending both of them to the mat with Hibiki crashing down on Ichiko.

Hibiki rolled off, crawling on her hands and knees to a distance away from Ichiko. Breathing heavily, she reached for the ropes, using them to pull herself up. She saw Ichiko pulling herself back up, one hand on her mid-back, right eye wincing slightly. She went in immediately, heading directly for Hibiki to follow up. Still holding onto the ropes, Hibiki used them to pull herself up, delivering a kick straight to the side of Ichiko's head as she approached, knocking her to the mat again.

The crowd popped at the resourceful move as Ichiko hit the mat, holding onto her head. Hibiki stumbled over into the corner, looking over at Ichiko.

"What's Hibiki got planned next?" Naganohara wondered.

She looked out upon the arena for a moment, before raising her arms up and down, motioning for noise from the crowd, noise which they promptly gave. For that moment, it seemed like the pain she was feeling had faded. Going through the top and middle ropes, she stepped onto the apron, then began to climb the turnbuckles fromt he outside.

"Is that smart?!" Aioi asked. "She already got hurt on one top rope move!"

The audience cheered wildly as Hibiki stood up on the top rope. She began to shake, suddenly,though, and a loud 'Pop' went off. The turnbuckle Hibiki was standing on snapped off, falling onto the mat, sending the idol falling off of the top rope, crashing into the mat below.

"What the heck?!" Shouted Naganohara. "The… turnbuckle broke?!"

Ichiko sat up, looking over as Hibiki lay flat on the mat. She immediately dove onto her opponent. Befuddled by the entire scene, Referee Nagase reluctantly went over and made the count. "1, 2, 3!"

The bell rang three times and Ichiko's theme filled the arena once again. Tenma lifted up her mic. "The winner of this match, Ichiko Sakura!"

The smile returned to Ichiko's face as Referee Nagase raised her arm. The other members of 765 Pro could be seen, watching in various states shock and disappointment.

"Well, um, I have no idea what the heck just happened." Aioi said. "It looked like the turnbuckle broke off just as Hibiki was about to hit a top rope move."

"Were… were the rumors of Ichiko Sakura having ridiculous amounts of good luck true?" Naganohara thought aloud, watching Ichiko prance around the ring victoriously.

"I can't really think of how else something like that could happen." Aioi replied.

"Either way, Hibiki put on a great effort tonight, and you gotta wonder if she was about to win there if it wasn't for… well, that stroke of luck."

Ichiko stood up on the middle rope, motioning to the audience happily, and receiving a lukewarm reaction in return. She climbed back down, walking around the fallen Hibiki, who was in the midst of being checked on by Referee Nagase.

"Either way, though." Naganohara continued. "Putting aside in-ring skills, if she continues to have supernatural luck like that, it's gonna be pretty hard to take her down in round two."

Ichiko stepped through the ropes and onto the apron. She paused, looking over at Hibiki's hamster on the steps before shaking her head in disgust and hopping down onto the arena floor.

"So we now have 5 out of 8 entrants in round two decided, with one more to go tonight." Naganohara said. "Still to come, it's Saeko Busujima and Yurippe Nakamura."

Ichiko reached the top of the entrance ramp, once again paying no real mind to the other 765 Pro members. She turned around, looking at the arena again before taking a bow in celebration of her victory. With that, she turned around, disappearing behind the curtain. Her music came to a stop within a few seconds.

Back in the ring, Hibiki sat back up, heaving a sigh. She got up, walking slowly to the edge of the ring. She climbed out and kneeled down by her hamster, picking it up. She gave a half-smile to her pet, though not hiding her disappointment very well.

The sound of applause interrupted her, though. She looked out to see the audience cheering for her effort.

"And respect for an excellent competitor from the SHSP audience." Naganohara said.

Hibiki's smile went from forced to genuine as she made her way up the entrance ramp. She was greeted by the other members of 765 Pro with hugs and kind words.

The camera now switched to backstage once again, showing Junko Enoshima in her office, once again sitting at her desk. There was a knock at her door. "Come in."

The door burst open, and in came Touko Fukawa. "Enoshima-san!"

"Oh, Fukawa." Junko greeted her. "What brings you here?"

"Why did you put me out there?!" Fukawa cried. "That was so embarrassing! I don't want to do this anymore!"

"Fukawa-san, relax." Junko replied. She put on her glasses, switching into her 'sophisticated' voice. "We see much potential in you here as SHSP, and surely there's the potential for greatness in you."

"There isn't!" Fukawa replied desperately. "The other girls in the tournament are athletic, they're pretty, some of them were already famous! I don't belong here! Plus, so many others from our school could've been better than me! Oogami-san's a martial artist, Asahina's athletic, she's a swimmer, even Kirigiri and Celes would've been better than me! Why did you pick me?!"

Junko removed her glasses. "As much as I like to see despair, I don't want to see it in you. Just relax, your next match won't be for a little bit, so just calm down." Junko's tone of voice switched into her 'cute' self. "There's some nice sweets and tea in the catering room, go and help yourself!"

Fukawa groaned, putting her head in her hands. "I don't want to do this anymore!"

The door opened again. "Oh, hey, you wanted to see me?"

The happy face of a short-haired brunette came in. She walked into the room. Clad in a navy blue jacket, grey-blue skirt and pair of stockings, the happy girl walked up to Junko's desk beside Fukawa.

"Ah, Yui Hirasawa, thanks for coming." Junko replied. She went back into her 'sophisticated' mode with her glasses back on. "I'm glad you could make it. I just want to double-check that you're sure about participating in this tournament."

"Of course I am!" Yui responded cheerfully. "I can do this!"

Junko removed her glasses, now going into her 'despair' mode. "It just seems like this kind of thing wouldn't be your forte, Hirasawa-san. You kind of stick out like a sore thumb."

"Mm… I know I'm not much of an athlete, or a fighter…" Yui began. "But I can try! I wasn't much of a guitar player at first either, but I gave it my best shot and now with my band After School Tea Time, I can really rock!"

"I'm just concerned, that's all." Junko's normal tone of voice returned. "I think something like this might be a little rough for you."

"I'm gonna do my best, though!" Yui called out. "Even if I don't win, I'm gonna try! Besides, if Fukawa-san got in, I can do it too, right?"

Fukawa groaned loudly, turning away from the two.

"Alright, Hirasawa-san. Good luck, then."

The door burst open. "Hey, what the heck is the deal?"

The three in the room looked up to see another girl enter. In a blue-and-white school outfit, she had a distinctive look of orange-brown hair with a hair clip. She pushed the door shut behind her, crossing her arms indignantly.

"Kirino Kousaka." Junko greeted her. Any positivity she might've held immediately faded. "And what, pray tell, brings you here?"

"You know what brings me here!" Kirino exclaimed. "I was invited to be a member of SHSP, but I'm not in the championship tournament?! What gives?!"

Junko returned her glasses to her face. "You see, this tournament will decide our champion. Our champion will be the face of the promotion, and will represent us a group. And you see…" Junko lowered her glasses. "I can't just have a brother-lover competing for that position."

Kirino immediately let out a gasp, her face turning red immediately. She glared in Junko's direction. "What does that have to do with wrestling?!"

"Honestly? Nothing." Replied Junko, removing her glasses. "But it's disgusting. Everyone knows about it, and it's what they'll be thinking about when you walk down the aisle." She looked up at Kirino's furious face. "Look, you're a model, you're good-looking, you're very athletic and you're decently well-known around the Tokyo and Chiba areas. So obviously you would be of value here. But as a champion… no."

"I don't care!" Kirino pounded her hands on Junko's desk. "I want in! If Fukawa here could be in, and you put the happy-go-luck guitarist next to her in, too, I should have a spot!"

The look on Kirino's face seemed to affect Junko the more she looked at it, her face starting to soften. She let out a sigh. "Fine, Kousaka, you want in that badly? You're in."

Kirino removed her hands from Junko's desk, not looking much happier.

"Actually, this is even better." Junko continued. "Because once you have a terrible performance in the tournament and get eliminated, I can bring your contract to the board of directors, and have it terminated!"

"What?!" Kirino exclaimed.

Junko laughed loudly at Kirino's outrage. "Like I said, your traits made you valuable, but once it turns out you insisted to be added to the world title tournament only to get yourself eliminated, it probably won't take much to get your contract killed."

Fuming, Kirino glared at the smug Junko. "And what if I don't just get beaten in the tournament like you think?"

"Please, with the level of talent here? You're going down sooner than later." Junko replied. "Oh, and by the way, your opponent in the first round? She's gonna make things a little… unpleasant."

Junko laughed angrily in the face of the enraged Kirino.

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

The occupants of the room suddenly looked around upon hearing a furious voice. The sound of footsteps approached.

The door burst open again, showing the furious face of a girl in a distinct black-and-red uniform that showed her midsection. Similarly distinct was the streak of red across her medium-length dark hair.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, Ryuko Matoi, do come in." Junko mumbled in annoyance.

"Why did you leave me out of the tournament but put in that Satsuki Kiryuin instead?!" Exclaimed Ryuko angrily.

"Do you even need to ask?" Replied Junko. "You're a loose canon, Matoi. And I need this tournament to go smoothly. That's not to say you won't be asked back, but I can't have you going crazy and attacking everyone if you lose or someone says something to you or… you think that one of the 765 Pro girls was the one who killed your dad."

"What does that matter?" Snapped Ryuko. "Isn't this tournament supposed to decide who's the best? How can you say that without me in there? I would've gladly destroyed Kiryuin before I claimed the championship!"

Junko sighed. "Look, Matoi, we had only two possible spots for next week's final tournament matches with a few girls being considered, but it looks like these two filled them." She motioned to Kirino and Yui. Ryuko turned and looked at them, causing them to both flinch immediately.

"Take them out." Ryuko ordered.

"Damn it, Matoi, the answer's no!" Junko shot back. "If you want to compete here at all, you're gonna need to cool it down, alright?! We'll call you in a few weeks!"

Ryuko stared at Junko, their eyes locking in a meeting of angry stares. Finally, Ryuko turned around. "You don't know how to run this company, Enoshima." She said. "Kiryuin didn't know how to run an academy, either, but I taught her a lesson. I might have to do that again."

"Yeah, yeah." Junko replied dismissively. "Now, all of you, please, leave."

Kirino, Yui and Fukawa all followed Ryuko out of the room, Fukawa closing the door behind her as she left.

Junko shook her head. "I probably should've checked which of them would be a pain in the neck before I contacted them…" With that she returned to her paperwork.

The camera returned to the ringside area, this time showing Aioi and Naganohara behind the announce table.

They looked into the camera, Naganohara beginning. "We're back at ringside now, and the turnbuckle has been reattached and checked, so we are all ready to go with our main event."

"Y'know, I kinda wanted to see that Ryuko Matoi in action." Aioi replied with a shrug. "She seemed pretty cool. More exciting than Satsuki did."

"Well, either way, looks like she didn't quite make the field for the tournament." Naganohara replied. "Next week, the tournament wraps up, and it looks like Yui Hirasawa and Kirino Kousaka will be in the final two matches."

The view switched to the ring, with the ring announcer Tenma inside of it, along with Referee Nishizumi. The timekeeper Onodera rang the bell.

"The following contest is a first round match in the SHSP Championship Tournament, and is scheduled for one fall!"

The sound of a cymbal ushered in a guitar riff, the song building slowly for a few seconds, the guitar recurring throughout. With another cymbal sound and a drumroll, the song playing exploded into a hard rock jam.

Saya Takagi stepped out from the back, pausing to adjust her glasses as Saeko Busujima followed her out, holding her wooden sword.

"Introducing first, being accompanied to the ring by Saya Takagi, Saeko Busujima!"

Saeko smirked slightly as she gave Takagi a nod. She turned and began the walk down the ramp, her manager following closely behind.

"Here we go, main event time!" Aioi excitedly said.

"And starting with Saeko Busujima." Naganohara continued. "What we do know about her is that she was a star on the kendo team in her school. Apparently she was involved in an altercation outside of school once that was… um, well, let's leave that for another time."

"Geez, what did she do?"

Saeko hurried her pace slightly, making her way up the steps and through the ropes, with Takagi still a few paces behind. In time with her song coming to a brief pause, she jumped onto the middle rope as it kicked back in again, holding her sword over her shoulder with one arm and looking over the crowd with a small smile on her face. The crowd cheered a bit at Saeko's attempt to play to them.

Takagi ascended the small set of steps and stepped through the ropes to join her client. She walked over to Saeko as she stepped down, speaking some words to her that were inaudible to anyone else. Saeko dropped her arm to the side, holding her sword more casually now.

"Yknow, this is the second week in a row someone brought a sword." Aioi pointed out. "Imagine if she and Satsuki get matched up? They'll probably have a sword fight instead of a match!"

"Actually that does sound pretty neat, I'd like to see that." Naganohara replied.

The two girls in the ring stood, facing the entrance ramp. Saeko's entrance theme quieted down, eventually turning silent. The arena quieted down altogether.

The sound of piano notes broke the silence. They rang out for four measures before coming to a brief stop. The sound of a dance beat came in soon after, the piano returning after a few moments. The lyrics began, "_Mezamete ha kurikaesu nemui asa ha_"

In time with the lyrics beginning, out from the back came the next competitor. Dressed in a white-and-blue uniform similar to that of Kirino's, long maroon hair and a hairband with a grown bow at the end completed her distinct look. She took a few steps out, hands on her hips as she looked out at the arena with a smile.

"And her opponent, Yurippe Nakamura!"

With a small salute to the crowd, Yurippe began her trek towards the ring. As she moved slightly towards the side to head more directly towards the ring steps, she high-fived the fans she passed by. Upon arriving in front of said steps, she took a few steps back, standing in front of the barricade, striking a pose for the camera, the excited fans behind her in the frame happily cheering.

"It looks like she knows how to work a crowd, that's for sure." Aioi commented, watching Yurippe make her way up the steps and into the ring.

"Not a surprise, she is the leader of a group that goes by the name of the SSS, if you note the badge on her arm."

The camera focused in on Yurippe's arm, showing a gold and red badge with the letters 'SSS' emblazoned diagonally across it, the words 'rebels against the god' written underneath.

Naganohara continued. "Though, interestingly enough, she doesn't care much for her nickname Yurippe, though apparently it seemed troublesome to our promoters to have a girl billed by the name of 'Yuri' competing in a grappling contest."

Yurippe ran to the edge of the ring near the center between turnbuckles, raising her hands into the air, receiving another cheer from the audience. With that she turned around, catching view of Saeko, who looked almost like she was enjoying the entrance, and Takagi, who on the contrary, seemed irritated.

Takagi whispered something to Saeko before exiting the ring, standing by the side of the ring Saeko was preparing herself on.

The music playing lowered in volume before coming to a stop moments later. The two competitors made the way to the middle of the ring with Referee Nishizumi nearby. They looked to each other, each with a sort of half-smile.

With one motion from the referee, the bell rang three times.

"And here we go!" Exclaimed Naganohara. "Saeko and Yurippe, final match for tonight! Who goes onto round two."

Referee Nishizumi backed up a few steps and left room between the two opponents, who circled around each other for a few moments. They took a step forward, locking up into a collar-and-elbow tie-up.

They grappled with one another for a moment, each attempting to overpower the other. To no avail, they remained in the lock-up. Saeko took a step forward, forcing Yurippe to take one back. She continued walking, pushing Yurippe back towards the ropes. With one big step, Yurippe reversed Saeko's progress, now forcing her to move backwards. Yurippe continued moving forward through the lock-up, forcing Saeko back towards the other side of the ring.

Saeko quickly pulled herself from the lock-up, grabbing hold of Yurippe's wrist and taking a step forward, locking both of her hands on Yurippe's in a a wristlock. The former kendo star locked in the pressure on her opponent, bringing a wince to Yurippe's face. Taking heaving breaths while attempting to endure the pain, Yurippe swung her free hand up, grabbing Saeko's left wrist. Yurippe twisted her body, pulling her hand free and locking it onto Saeko's on wrist with her other hand, now locking her own wristlock.

Yurippe now applied the pressure to Saeko, who struggled briefly with it, before throwing her arm out in Yurippe's direction, locking it around her neck with enough force to break the hold. WIth her other hand free, Saeko locked both arms around Yurippe's head in a headlock. She cinched in the lock as Yurippe struggled against it. Yurippe wrenched her body around in the whole, both hands grabbing onto Saeko's arms. Dropping down, Yurippe managed to slip out of the hold, avoiding Saeko's futile attempts to keep it in. She looked up to see Yurippe's arm coming towards her, grabbing hold of her own and giving her a hard hip toss to the ground.

She hit the ground with a thud, remaining down only momentarily before turning over onto her hands and knees. Saeko crawled away from Yurippe for a few steps, standing up again. On opposite sides of the ring again, the two paced back and forth. Each one of the two girls looked almost as if they enjoyed the previous exchange.

"And a back-and-forth exchange to start this match." Naganohara commented. "They went move-for-move in that one."

"Is it just me or does it seem like they had fun doing it?" Aioi asked.

"Seems like they both have a competitive spirit."

Both Saeko and Yurippe circled around the ring, facing one another, seemingly not rushing into anything. They began to approach one another slowly, hands up in front of them. Yurippe threw out the first punch, one which Saeko blocked. Saeko responded in kind with a chop, this one connecting into Yurippe's upper chest, stunning her briefly. She follow this up with an immediate kick to her stomach, doubling her over. Saeko immediately turned around, throwing her arms back around Yurippe's head and neck, and dropping to one knee, using the momentum to flip her opponent over her shoulder and back first onto the ground.

Yurippe sat up quickly, but was greeted with a swift kick to the back from Saeko, the audience clamoring in response to the loud attack. Yurippe grimaced, her hand going to her back, Saeko leaped over Yurippe, running back towards the ring ropes. She turned and bounced off, coming back towards her opponent, who, to her surprise, hopped back up to her feet. Saeko continued her charge, but her her surprise, Yurippe hopped into the air, managing to clear Saeko's slightly-ducked head. She spun around while Saeko continued running, springing off the opposite rope. The former kendo star threw her arm out for a clothesline, which was promptly ducked by Yurippe, who answered with a short jump into a dropkick, dropping Saeko to the mat.

Yurippe immediately hopped onto her opponent. "1—" Saeko pushed Yurippe off before Referee Nishizumi could even reach 2.

Saeko pulled herself from under Yurippe's pin and crawled away a short distance to where she could stand again. Her opponent did the same, and once again, the two were facing off from opposite sites of the ring.

"It's been totally back-and-forth so far!" Naganohara exclaimed. "Neither one of them has let up, and it doesn't look like either one's gained much of an advantage."

The two circled one another, and judging from their faces, the competitive spirit that fueled them hadn't gone anywhere. They walked in towards each other, locking up into the tie-up once again. This time they didn't remain in it long, as Yurippe slipped out, spinning around Saeko and going into a waistlock. Yurippe began the process of trying to wear Saeko down with the hold. Saeko wisely dropped to the ground, turning and using the leverage to push Yurippe off. They both sprung up immediately, Saeko catching Yurippe off-guard with a chop to the chest, an audible blow which rang out quite loudly.

Yurippe's hands went over her chest, as she wandered over towards the corner. Saeko folloewd in pursuit, throwing a forearm to the head. Yurippe stepped backwards as Saeko continued, finding herself stuck in the corner. The SSS Leader found herself on the end of several boots to the gut now, Saeko taking advantage of having Yurippe in the corner.

Referee NIshizumi rushed over. "Come on, out of the corner!" She shouted out to them.

With an aside glance, Saeko took a step back, obeying the referee's words. She turned back around, only to see Yurippe spring herself up while holding onto the ropes, throwing a single-footed thrusting kick into Sakeo's face. Saeko stumbled backwards, hands on her mouth while Yurippe stepped up onto the middle turnbuckle.

"Yurippe's going to the top rope now, even though it didn't work out too well in the last match." Aioi commented.

Saeko turned around, hand still over her mouth, seeing Yurippe standing on the middle turnbuckle. She leaped off, turning her body perpendicular for a cross-body, dropping down towards Saeko. Her body collided with Saeko's, but to her shock, it didn't take her down - Saeko managed to catch her.

"Oh my gosh, look at that strength!" Gasped Naganohara.

The crowd clamored at the sight of Saeko holding her opponent up with little difficulty, likely as it was the first real show of strength. Saeko stormed back towards the corner, tossing Yurippe back-first and upside-down into the corner.

"Oh, gosh, a slam into the corner, that looked like it hurt." Naganohara continued on commentary.

Yurippe crawled over onto her knees, hand on her back, grimacing slightly. Saeko paused, watching her opponent start to get up, then went running off to the other side of the ring, springing off the ropes. Yurippe stood up and was immediately met with a diving clothesline, sending her back down again. Saeko crawled over into the cover.

Referee Nishizumi counted. "1, 2—" Yurippe kicked out.

"Impressive show from Saeko Busujima!" Naganohara raved. "Can she keep it going?"

Saeko rose up, reaching one hand down towards Yurippe, grabbing her by her collar. SHe began to pull Yurippe up, and then immediately found herself thrown off guard as Yurippe used both her hands and feet to push Saeko backwards, sending her tumbling through the middle rope to the outside.

Saeko went over the apron, falling onto the mats on the outside. Inside of the ring, Yurippe pulled herself back up, struggling slightly as she did, most likely the effect of the corner slam. She stood, watching Saeko start to recover. With that, she turned and ran to the opposite side of the ring, springing off the ring ropes.

"What's she doing here?!" Aioi asked.

Yurippe went running across the ring, and as she closed in on the edge of the ring, leaped clear over the top rope, diving onto Saeko, who was sent flying into the barricade, Yurippe bouncing off and landing on the mat a short distance way. The crowd erupted at the aerial maneuever, applauding in appreciation.

"What a dive by Yurippe!" Naganohara exclaimed. "Both of these girls are going all-out in this match!"

Both now lay on the mat outside of the ring, slowly making their way back up, the match clearly taking its toll on both of them. Saeko began to pull herself up with the barricade, Yurripe doing the same with the ring apron. Saeko sprung forward suddenly, tackling Yurippe into the edge of the ring apron. The fans cringed at the sight of Yurippe's neck bouncing off the corner.

"Oh, gosh!" Naganohara commented. "Yurippe's body went down at an angle, it looked like her neck slammed hard into that apron."

"After that slam in the corner, she might not have much left now." Added Aioi.

Yurippe remained in the same spot she made impact, a grimaced look crossing her face. She was rolled into the ring by Saeko a moment later. Saeko crawled in after her, moving in for a pinfall attempt.

Referee Nishizumi counted, "1, 2—" Yurippe managed to kick out.

Saeko got up to her knees, wondering what to do next while she looked down at her injured opponent. Yurippe was breathing heavily, her face still looking full of discomfort. She moved one hand back to her neck for her support.

She was yanked from the ground by Saeko, who stood up along with her. She moved so they stood face-to-face, and bending her slightly, Saeko threw her arm around the top of Yurippe's neck, using her other hand to lift her up for the vertical suplex. Once again showing strength, Saeko lifted Yurippe up vertically into the air. However, she immediately began to teeter, as to her shock, Yurippe managed to slip out. Both of Yurippe's hands grabbed onto the right arm Saeko was using to lift her, as she wrapped both legs around Saeko's left arm. Using her body weight, Yurippe forced Saeko onto the ground, her shoulders down and caught in a cruficix pin.

"Reversal into the crucifix!" Naganohara called. "1, 2, NO!"

Saeko managed to get her shoulder out before the third count could be made. Yurippe rolled out, but it was clear she was still feeling hurt, as she didn't rush to get up again and capitalize. Saeko got back up sooner. She circled the dazed Yurippe, who remained on her hands and knees, body shaking slightly. Saeko made a small jump, dropping her knee directly into Yurippe's upper back and neck area, dropping her down to the mat.

"Knee drop!" Aioi exclaimed. "To the same area Yurippe got slammed into the apron in, that's definitely not good."

Saeko dropped her knees and turned Yurippe over. She hooked one of her legs for the pin. "1, 2—" Yurippe managed to kick out, and judging by noise that came from the audience, it was a shock that she did.

"No, she's still in it!" Naganohara called. "Yurippe is not out just yet!"

Saeko got back up onto her knees again, heaving a sigh. Frustration was visible on her face.

The sound of pounding on the mat caught Saeko's attention, as she looked to see Takagi banging her hands on the apron. "Come on, Busujima, you can put her away!"

With a brief nod, Saeko once again stood up again, and with both hands, grabbed hold of Yurippe's uniform to pull her up as well. A quick backhanded chop caught Saeko off-guard, sending her stumbling backwards. Yurippe took a step back, still panting, standing on wobbly legs.

Saeko turned around and charged back at Yurippe, and for her trouble was greeted with a forearm to the side of the head.

"It looks like Nakamura's doing her best to stay in this fight!" Aioi commented.

Yurippe charged forward, throwing strikes at Saeko as she guarded against them. A right hand, a left hand. Saeko raised a hand, blocking one attack, and countering with a hard backhand chop of her own. This brought a stop to Yurippe's attack, turning her away as she attempted to recover. Saeko moved in, hands up again. To her shock, Yurippe turned around and in the process threw a kick straight to the ribs. Saeko moved a hand over her sides. Yurippe moved in again, but was greeted with a punch to the stomach, followed by a hard right to the face.

Yurippe raised her hand again after the attack, but the fatigue had set in at this point, her hands dropping to her side soon after. Saeko moved in, driving her knee into Yurippe's stomach. Her eyes widened as she dropped onto her knees, hands over her midsection.

Saeko closed in again, raising her hands for a clubbing blow to the back of the neck. She followed with another. And another. And another. Saeko began raining down blows with both hands on Yurippe, which increased in speed and frequency. Something strange seemed to come over her, her facial expression changing, to a wide-eyed half-smile. Yurippe futily tried to guard as Saeko began to add in kicks, pummeling Yurippe with all of her strength.

"Oh my gosh, I think she's losing it!" Gasped Naganohara. "She's just going nuts with those strikes on Nakamura!"

Yurippe was soon on the ground, Saeko pounding away on her, the disturbing look remaining firmly in place. Saeko dropped onto the mat beside her, raising her arms to drop her elbow onto the back of Yurippe's neck over, and over, and over. Yurippe was defenseless, trying to fight it off to no avail. She grabbed hold onto Yurippe's upper body with both hands, angrily driving her knee into wherever she could land it, two, three, four, five times.

She was back up on her feet again in an instant, dragging Yurippe over to the corner. Hands on Yurippe's neck, Saeko continued her aggressive assault by slamming Yurippe head-first into the turnbuckles continually.

Finally, Referee Nishizumi rushed over, pulling on Saeko. "Come on, that's enough, that's enough!"

Referee Nishizumi had gotten Saeko away just enough to put a stop to the onslaught. Yurippe dropped onto the mat, holding onto her head, but moving very little otherwise. Saeko suddenly stood still. The maniacal expression that came to her face was gone, replaced with a horrified one. She began to shake, looking at both of her hands, and then at Yurippe.

"What the?" Aioi asked. "Is she… what's going on here?!"

Saeko turned away, putting a hand over her mouth.

Takagi banged on the ring apron again. "Busujima!" She shouted. "What are you doing?!"

Saeko wandered to the other side of the ring, moving her hand onto her forehead, shaking her head.

"It looks like… she… feels bad about that?" Naganohara asked.

Referee Nishizumi ran over to Saeko. "Do you want to continue?"

Saeko turned away from her, the worried look on her face still there. She took a deep breath, making her way across the ring where Yurippe was still down. She stood above her opponent, looking down at the injured Yurippe with what appeared to be concern.

Saeko reached down slowly, lifting up Yurippe, soon standing face-to-face with her. Saeko reached for Yurippe's arms, crossing them over each other before spinning around, the position of her hands causing Yurippe to do the same, leaving them back-to-back with Yurippe's own hands underneath her head, the top of her head balanced on Saeko's arms. Saeko dropped backward onto the mat with a thud, the position of the move banging Yurippe's head hard against the mat.

"And that was a straitjacket neckbreaker!" Naganohara commented.

Saeko crawled over onto Yurippe, who was now clenching her neck with both hands. Referee Nishizumi counted the pin. "1, 2, 3!"

The bell rang three times, and Saeko's theme played on the speaker again.

"The winner of this match, Saeko Busujima!"

"And Saeko gets the win and advances to the second round." Naganohara stated as Referee Nishizumi's raised Saeko's hand. Saeko looked away from Yurippe, the sorrowful look back on her face.

"But what the heck happened here?!" Aioi asked. "She lost it on Yurippe and just beat her down and then… she looked like she felt bad about it?"

Takagi entered the ring, applauding Saeko, who shook her head upon seeing Takagi. She rushed to exit the ring, her confused manager following her out.

"Well, this was a strange way to close out the show for sure." Naganohara continued. "But nonetheless, Saeko Busujima is one dangerous competitor. I wouldn't want to be whoever gets her in round two."

"Tell me about it." Aioi agreed.

Saeko rushed towards the backstage area, Takagi attempting to catch up to her to no avail.

"Well, in any case, next week, round one finishes!" Naganohara continued. "The debuts of Kirino Kousaka and Yui Hirasawa, not to mention we find out who else will fill out the field of sixteen! Thank you for joining us, everyone, see you next week!"


	3. 12-1

The scene opened up on the SHSP arena, showing the cheering crowd.

"Welcome everyone, to Super High School Pro! Mio Naganohara here, along with Yukko Aioi on commentary!"

"And tonight we conclude the first round of the tournament to crown the first ever SHSP World Champion!"

"That's right, and we know one participant from each match, who, ironically, our General Manager Junko Enoshima didn't even really want in the tournament. And tonight, we'll find out if she had a point, or if she'll be proven wrong by those two."

The bell rang three times, bringing the attention of the arena to the ring, where the ring announcer Tenma Tsukamoto stood in the center, referee Iori Nagase a few steps away. Tenma raised her microphone. "The following contest is a first round match in the SHSP Championship Tournament, and is scheduled for one fall!"

A few seconds of silence followed, before the music began over the speakers: "_Kimi to mata monogatari ga hajimaru no_"

The crowd rose to their feet as Kirino emerged from the back. Despite the words exchanged between she and Junko last week, it seemed as though she was in good spirits, a smile on her face as she came out.

"And here she is, the girl against whom Junko was opposed to allowing compete." Naganohara commented. "Due to her well-known scandalous past, our general manager did not even want her in the tournament."

"You gotta wonder if that's gonna affect any support the fans have of her." Aioi added.

"Seems like they're taking to her well so far." Naganohara responded, referring the rather warm reception she was receiving.

She walked down the ramp, smiling and waving to the crowd all the way down. She hopped up the small set of steps to the ring, posing at the top of them for the cheering audience.

Naganohara continued. "Kirino also has an athletic background, being a National-level runner. That might not help so much with grappling, but you gotta figure her stamina's pretty good."

"That might not matter, though." Aioi added. "For all we know she might be up against someone big and strong. Like that Sakura Oogami that Junko went to school with, have you seen her? She'd probably rip everyone apart if she joined SHSP."

"Well, let's hope for Kirino's sake that's not what happens then."

Kirino entered the ring, immediately making her way up to the second turnbuckle, striking another pose for the crowd.

"Kirino's also a model as well." Naganohara added. "It seems like it's helped her, it already feels like she's got a superstar-like air about her!"

Kirino hopped down onto the mat, walking over to the other side of the ring, turning to face the entrance ramp. Her music quieted down before coming to a full stop. And the arena went silent once more.

"And now we'll see who she drew in round one!" Aioi exclaimed.

All eyes turned to the entry way to the ring. The speakers started playing a song again, a rather soft song with a guitar intro. "_Kodoku ga hoho wo nurasu nurasu kedo, Yoake no kehai ga shizuka ni michite_" It began to pick up, the song's drums entering. "_Watashi wo sora e maneku yo. Kibou ga kanata de matteru sou da yo iku yo_"

And out from the entrance way emerged the next competitor, the most noticable thing about this girl being a pair of oversize red glasses, forming a rather unusual look paired with her short pink-hued hair and a pink cardigan over a blue-and-white school uniform, with black stockings rounding out her outfit. She looked around nervously at the audience.

"And her opponent, Mirai Kuriyama!"

Mirai began a slow walk down the entrance ramp. Her visible level of confidence was a stark contrast with Kirino's, as she didn't seem to be in much of a rush to play to or even look much at the audience.

"Well, I guess now we know what Junko meant when she said Kirino's opponent would make things 'unpleasant'!" Naganohara began. "Mirai Kuriyama, a first year high school student, who is what's called a Spirit Warrior."

"What the heck's a Spirit Warrior?"

"Not sure. Just what I know about her. She's also a bit shy and clumsy, but still a pretty capable fighter. She also has a habit of saying things are 'unpleasant'."

"You think she'd say that about our commentary?"

"Probably."

"Well, anyway." Aioi continued. "I also know a tidbit about Kuriyama-san, it turns out that's she's extremely popular among people with a glasses fetish!"

"...what?"

MIrai took the few steps up and steps and entered the ring with very little pizzazz to her entrance, walking calmly into the ring. The sleeve of her cardigan shifted backwards slightly as Mirai reached for the ring ropes while stepping onto the apron, revealing a white bandage tied around her entire right hand, minus her fingers.

"Wonder what that bandage about." Aioi noted, watching Mirai step between the ropes and into the ring.

"Hm, not sure."

Kirino stood in the corner, keeping an eye on her opponent. Mirai started towards the side of the ring Kirino was waiting on, carefully removing her cardigan. She leaned down to place it on the edge of the ring apron.

Kirino took a few steps away, heading back towards the side of the ring closest to the entrance way, walking backwards with her eye on Mirai, but judging from her facial expression, she didn't seem too impressed.

"It doesn't look like Kirino really thinks much of Mirai, does she?" Aioi asked.

"You gotta figure that when our GM grudgingly let her in the tournament, she was expecting someone really tough and scary to come through the curtain. I mean, we haven't really seen what Mirai can do, but she doesn't seem all that strong from first glance."

"She kinda gives off a vibe like Touko Fukawa last week." Aioi added. "I mean, she's even got the glasses and the shy awkwardness!"

Mirai's entrance music came to a stop as the two approached one another in the middle of the ring. Referee Nagase motioned to the timekeeper Kosaki Onodera, who rang the bell three times.

"And here we go, Kirino Kousaka and Mirai Kuriyama, the second-to-last first round match!" Naganohara excitedly narrated as the two circled one another inside of the ring.

Kirino started to approach Mirai, who put her hands up. To her surprise, Kirino came sprinting in towards her, going after her straight away with forearm strikes, which she struggled to guard against. Mirai found herself backed up into the corner, Kirino still going at her. Referee Nagase immediately moved in to separate them.

"And Kirino is really going for it!" Naganohara exclaimed as Referee Nagase backed Kirino away from the corner. "It seems that almost not being allowed in the tournament really lit a fire under her."

Mirai took a few steps out of the corner with Kirino backed up, only to see Kirino rush her again, going after her with more strikes that she struggled to guard against. After landing a handful and once again backing her opponent into the direction of the corner, Kirino grabbed hold of Mirai's medium-length hair with both hands, slamming her forehead first into the turnbuckle.

Putting a hand to her forehead, Mirai sort of dropped against the corner momentarily. Kirino immediately slipped through the middle and top ropes, stepping onto the apron. She grabbed hold of Mirai's head again, dragging her a few steps away from the turnbuckles and dropping to her knees, pulling Mirai's head and neck against the top rope, bouncing off it.

Mirai fell onto the mat. Kirino immediately hopped back through the ropes, jumping onto her for the pinfall attempt. Referee Nagase counted. "1-" Mirai kicked out before the 2 count could be made.

"Kirino impressive in the early moments of this match!" Naganohara exclaimed. "She hasn't given Mirai any room to breathe."

Kirino wasted no time in getting back up again, but Mirai surprisingly was getting up swiftly as well. Her determination still showing in her face, Kirino went running towards Mirai, grabbing hold of her head again and dropping to her knees again, slamming Mirai into the mat with enough force to send her glasses off her face.

"Oh, what a facebuster!" Aioi exclaimed.

Kirino turned MIrai over and hooked her leg for another pin attempt. "1, 2-" Kick out by Mirai.

"And so far it's been all Kirino." Naganohara exclaimed as Kirino got up again. "You gotta wonder how much longer this match might go at this rate."

Kirino took a few steps back from Mirai before turning around and making a run for the ropes. Coming off the ropes, she came back towards Mirai, and was immediately cut off with Mirai throwing out her elbow, catching Kirino directly in the stomach. Kirino let out a gasp, dropping to her knees, hand over her midsection. Mirai rushed at her, raising a knee to hit Kirino in the upper body, this knee lift dropping Kirino onto her back.

"Wow! And with two impactful moves, Mirai just cut off Kirino's offense!" Naganohara commented.

Mirai took a few steps back, her left hand still on her temple. She looked at Kirino, who seemed sufficiently dazed by her moves, leaving Mirai some time to catch her breath. She reached down onto the mat, picking up her large red glasses and returning them to her face.

The bespectacled competitor turned to look at Kirino, who was pulling herself back up to her feet again.

"I think we might've underestimated Mirai Kuriyama." Aioi commented, watching her approach Kirino. "With those two strikes, she did more damages than all of Kirino's punches and forearms!"

Mirai immediately reached out for Kirino's wrist, applying a wristlock with both hands. Kirino winced at this, trying to pull her arm free to no avail. Mirai turned her body around so she was face-to-face with her opponent, and ducked her head underneath Kirino's free arm, and moved her left hand to Kirino's waist while keeping her other hand on her hand. In this position, Mirai lifted herself backwards, using the leverage of the position to flip Kirino over onto her back. Mirai hung on, holding herself just above mat level for a pinning combination.

Referee Nagase counted. "1, 2-" Kirino pushed Mirai off before the 3 count could be made.

"And an impressive suplex by Mirai!" Naganohara said. "Straight into a bridging pin, too."

Mirai dropped the pinning predicament and got back up again, with Kirino slowly attempting to recover. She moved behind her opponent, apparently waiting for her to get up. As Kirino got up, Mirai moved in right away, tucking her head underneath Kirino's arm, this time from behind, using both hands to lift her off the ground again, dropping her back-first onto the mat for a back suplex.

Mirai crawled away a few steps at Kirino remained down on the mat. She got back up slowly, glancing at her opponent but not yet moving in. She seemed to be taking deep breaths. The look on her face was fairly uncomfortable, despite the fact that she was now in control of the match.

"I don't know, she doesn't seem to be too into this." Aioi noted while looking at the idle Mirai. "Even though she's in control now, she still looks nervous."

"Hard to tell why she'd be nervous, though, she was pretty successful in cutting off Kirino's offense." Naganohara replied. "Let's see if she can keep it up, though."

Mirai let out a small sigh and turned around, going back to Kirino, who was just getting back up. Mirai put her hands up, but was struck by Kirino as she came in, who landed a shot to Mirai's midsection underneath the position of her hands. Kirino raised her right leg, throwing a kick at Mirai just as she flinched from the first shot. To her shock, the kick was caught.

Kirino's eyes widened in surprise. The look of determination started to set into Mirai's face, as she swung Kirino's leg with both hands. Unexpectedly, though, Kirino managed to stay on one foot, bringing her whole body around with the force of Mirai's swing and making a small jump, the heel of her shoe catching Mirai in the chin, prompting some noise from the audience.

"What a counter!" Naganohara raved. "Amazing show of balance from Kirino!"

"Not to mention that kick looked like it must've really hurt her chin." Aioi added.

Mirai was sent reeling from the kick, her hands over her jaw, a grimace showing beneath her glasses. Kirino immediately dashed past Mirai, hopping up onto the second turnbuckle on the corner, and springing off, turning her body for a crossbody onto Mirai. However, she was caught in midair by Mirai, who managed to stay standing.

"Oh, man, that high-risk attempt backfired!" Naganohara called, watching as Mirai momentarily held onto the wriggling Kirino.

Mirai dropped herself down onto one knee, which brought Kirino's ribs down onto her other raised knee. Kirino bounced off the knee and onto the mat with a groan in pain. Mirai immediately went for the cover. "1, 2-" Kirino managed to get a shoulder up.

Mirai sat up, her temporarily determined face having gone back to the unsure look she wore for a lot of the night so far.

"And it looks like Mirai might've thought she'd have the win by now." Naganohara guessed, watching Mirai getting up again.

"She has hit some pretty strong moves so far, but Kirino seems pretty tough. Guess that's the athletic ability of hers."

Mirai brought Kirino back up to a vertical basis with both hands still on her. A quick kick from Kirino to the stomach landed , breaking her grip. Kirino followed with another on Mirai, followed by a third. Kirino followed with a forearm, landed onto Mirai's sternum. The strikes backed Mirai up towards the ropes.

"And it looks like Kirino's getting herself back into things." Naganohara commented, watching Kirino continuing her striking moves.

"You think maybe Mirai's caught off-guard because our general manager might've make it seem like this would be an easy match for her?"

"Well, that's what makes this tournament so interesting." Naganohara responded, watching Kirino continue her offense against Mirai. "All of these competitors are meeting each other for the first time, and a lot of the fans are meeting them for the first time, it's hard to tell what's gonna happen."

Mirai was on the ropes now, Kirino continuing with her punches and kicks. She backed up a bit, landing a calculated hit to Mirai's stomach, stronger than her previous three kicks. Mirai doubled over as Kirino backed up. The younger competitor paused, taking a breath between her offense, one hand on ribs where she had taken Mirai's rib breaker move moments before. Conversely, Mirai was also taking a brief pause, nursing her midsection where she had just been kicked.

With one last deep breath, Kirino charged at Mirai. Mirai looked up to see her opponent rushing her, and grabbed hold of her upon approach, heaving her through the ropes. The shocked Kirino flew through the ropes and landed hard on the outside, prompting a loud 'Oh!' from the audience.

"Kirino sent flying to the outside!" Naganohara exclaimed, watching on the mats outside of the ring, looking to be pretty pained from the spill out of the ring. "It seems like every time Kirino starts building up offense, Mirai shuts her down."

Inside of the ring, Mirai remained, holding onto the ropes, apparently not chasing after Kirino on the outside. She stepped backwards towards the middle of the ring, keeping an eye on her opponent on the outside.

Referee Nagase made her way to the side of the ring beginning her count. "1!"

"Remember, everyone." Aioi cut in. "Kirino's only got a ten count, if she doesn't get back into the ring by then, she'll be counted out."

"2!" Referee Nagase called out, holding up two fingers. "3!"

Kirino reached up a hand from the mat, grabbing hold of the apron.

"4! 5!"

Kirino used the mat to pull herself back up, throwing her upper body onto it.

"6! 7!"

Kirino reached both hands onto the bottom rope, using it as leverage to get herself onto the ring apron, stopping the count.

"And she makes it back in!" Aioi commented. "This match is not over yet!"

Mirai began to move back towards the rope in Kirino's direction. She reached both hands over the top rope towards Kirino. Still not standing upright, Kirino threw her shoulder into Kirino's midsection, using the ropes to hold herself steady, which was about the only action she could do at the time.

Thankfully, it worked, stunning Mirai. Kirino got back up again, throwing her arms over the top rope, throwing an arm over Mirai's neck while she was slightly bent, locking in the front face lock. Kirino's free hand went to Mirai's waist, as she hoisted Mirai up into the air. However, Mirai struggled against it, pulling herself back down.

"It looked like Kirino was going for a suplex to the outside!" Naganohara said. "Thankfully for Mirai she couldn't quite get her up!"

Mirai reached out her own free hand, doing likewise as Kirino had and grabbing hold of her by the waist, lifting her up over the top. She managed to get Kirino up into the air, almost holding her up vertically. Kirino fought against it, wriggling her legs back and forth in an attempt to gain leverage. This worked, allowing her to force herself back back onto the apron, both girls holding onto each other in a stalemate.

The two continued to struggle against each other, neither one managing to complete the suplex against the other. Kirino broke the deadlock with a quick kick to Mirai's shin, causing her to release her grip.

Kirino raised her right arm, running towards Mirai with a forearm, a swing which was ducked. The bespectacled young woman raised her own arm, swinging it after a short dash to nail Kirino with an especially forceful clothesline, dropping her back onto the apron with a thud after being lifted a few inches into the air.

"Oh, man!" Gasped Naganohara. "What a clothesline from Mirai!"

"She just leveled her!" Added Aioi. "This match might be over!"

Kirino was sprawled on the ring apron outside of the ropes, her left arm and leg hanging off the side. Mirai dropped down, grabbing hold of Kirino's right arm and leg to pull her into the ring. She hooked Kirino's leg for a pinfall attempt. Referee Nagase counted. "1, 2-" Kirino kicked out again.

"No!" Called Naganohara. "Kirino still manages to kick out!"

Mirai sat up from the pinfall attempt, looking extremely flustered. She remained next to Kirino's lifeless body. She stared blankly ahead at nothing in particular, straining her face in frustration.

"Oh, geez." Aioi began. "Mirai looks pretty upset. It looks like she's thinking 'What do I have to do to keep her down?'."

"It's almost surprising, Mirai took control of this match after Kirino's initial flurry of offense, and hit some pretty high-impact moves! It's almost hard to believe Kirino has stayed in this match so long."

"How much more could she have left though? If you ask me, it seems like our general manager knew what she was doing when she decided to put Kirino up against Mirai."

Mirai stood up again, Kirino still sprawled on the mat. Mirai hopped over her, making a run for the corner of the ring closest.

"And now she's going high-risk!" Aioi exclaimed.

Mirai stepped through the ropes onto the ring apron, beginning the ascent to the top turnbuckle. She stood on top, Kirino still lying a short distance away. She hopped off the top to the excitement of all watching, extending out her right knee. She dropped down towards Kirino, and her knee only struck the mat, as Kirino managed to roll away just in time.

"And it didn't work!" Naganohara exclaimed as the crowd 'Ohh'ed at the sight of Mirai banging her knee on the mat from such a height.

Mirai shouted in pain, holding onto her knee and rolling around on the ground. Her face with contorted in the obvious agony she was in.

"That looked like it took a lot out of her!" Naganohara said.

"I guess that's why they call it 'high risk', though."

Kirino crawled away, glancing over at Mirai, still nursing her injury from the failed maneuver. She made an effort to stand, stumbling over to the ropes. She remained in place, still panting heavily. She moved one hand to the back of her neck, still grimacing.

"One thing about Mirai's offense I've noticed though." Naganohara commentated. "Is that she hasn't picked a particular body part to target. In past matches we saw Hitagi Senjougahara target Taiga Aisaka's arm, and both Satsuki Kiryuin and Saeko Busujima went after their opponent's neck area to set up their finishers. Mirai's moves have sort of been all over the place."

"With the way she hits, it seems like she might've gotten the win by now if she had focused on one area." Aioi replied. "You'd think with glasses those big she'd be the type to come with a game plan."

Kirino finally managed to pull herself from her resting position on the ropes, dashing over to Mirai, hooking her good leg for a pinfall. Referee Nagase went into the count. "1, 2-" Mirai managed to get her shoulder up.

"Good thinking there by Kirino, hold onto the good leg, give her less strength to kick out with." Naganohara added. "Still, Mirai doesn't seem like she's gonna be taken out from that one missed move."

Taking one last breath, Kirino hopped over Mirai, running the ropes and turning back around, making a short jump to drop both legs onto Mirai's midsection. She went for another pin attempt. "1, 2-" Again, Mirai kicked out.

"Nothing off the leg drop there." Commentated Naganohara. "Interesting form, though."

Kirino got up onto one knee, still breathing heavily, the exhaustion setting in. She pulled Mirai up with both hands by her shirt. To Kirino's surprise, she was immediately put into a front face lock for her troubles.

Mirai gritted her teeth as she locked in the hold as tightly as she could, Kirino struggling against her. With that, she spun around, reversing the facelock into a headlock, still managing to keep a hold.

Naganohara commented. "Mirai's still in this! First the facelock, then the headlock, what's she got planned!"

Mirai took off running with Kirino in the headlock. She jumped up into the air, pulling Kirino down with her - or at least attempting to, as Kirino slipped out, leaving Mirai's jump amounting to nothing but her falling onto the mat.

Kirino exhaustively stepped back, an apparent struggle just to stay standing. She made her way towards Mirai, who had gotten back up. Mirai swung on Kirino, who managed to avoid it, coming back up with a kick to the stomach. She followed up, jumping into the air with a dropkick, landing into Mirai's face as she doubled over from the first kick. Mirai was pushed backwards from this. Kirino grabbed hold of Mirai's wrist with one hand, going to whip her into the corner. This was reversed, as Mirai swung herself around, instead whipping Kirino in the corner.

Kirino slammed back-first into the corner, Mirai turning around to face her. She went running in, straight towards Kirino, and running into her knees, as she managed to get them up. This knocked Mirai's glasses from her face again, sending her dropping down onto the mat. She got back up, holding onto her head.

"And now a back-and-forth struggle here." Naganohara said.

Kirino held onto both ropes by the corner, staring at Mirai as she started to stand. As her opponent got to a vertical basis, she went charging in immediately. Upon reaching Mirai, Kirino put both hands on Mirai's shoulders and used her as leverage to jump with, moving her body forward and throwing her leg over Mirai's neck as the two dropped onto the mat, landing with a hard thud.

"Oh, what a leg lariat!" Shouted Naganohara as Kirino crawled off of Mira, who remained dazed on the mat. "Could this do it?"

Kirino crawled towards Mirai, exasperatedly throwing herself over her opponent. Referee Nagase made the count. "1, 2, 3!"

"She got her!" Aioi exclaimed as Kirino's entrance theme filled the arena once again.

"The winner of this match, Kirino Kousaka!" Tenma announced to the cheering audience.

Kirino rolled over Mirai, staying on her knees beside her felled opponent, still breathing heavily and looking pained. She struggled to get herself back up as Referee Nagase approached, raising her arm to announce her as the victory.

"What a match!" Naganohara exclaimed. "Both of these girls threw absolutely everything they had at each other!"

"I wonder if Junko still doesn't want Kirino competing after that performance." Aioi pondered. "And Mirai, wow, she was impressive too!"

Kirino stumbled over to the corner, draping her body over the top turnbuckle. A small smile came to her face as she looked around at the applauding fans in attendance.

"And just think, this was just round one!" Naganohara continued. "Imagine what we'll be seeing by the end of this tournament."

A sweat-covered Kirino stepped out of the corner, still looking to be in pain as she limped a few steps through the ring. She saw Referee Nagase helping Mirai to stand again, the pink-haired girl with one arm holding onto the top of her head as she finally was helped back up, and then promptly handed her glasses by Nagase.

The two came face-to-face in the middle of the ring. The two stared at each other, a tense pause between the girls. Finally, Mirai extended a hand out to Kirino. Smiling, Kirino reached out and shook Mirai's hand as the audience applauded.

"A show of sportsmanship from Mirai." Naganohara commented, watching Mirai exit the ring, hobbling her way towards the ramp. "She has nothing to be ashamed of though, that was a terrific performance by both of them."

Kirino slowly walked to the corner, climbing up to the second turnbuckle, raising her hands up into the air, the audience cheering in approval.

"Congratulations, Kirino!" Aioi cheered.

Eru Chitanda's jovial face appeared on-screen. "Hello, everyone! Please welcome my guest at this time, Moka Akashiya!"

Moka stepped into view, looking just as upbeat as she had the week before. "Hello!"

"Akashiya-san, how do you feel about winning your first round match and advancing to round two?"

"It feels great!" Moka replied excitedly. "A lot of people didn't think I could really do well on my own here, but I'm glad I won my first match! Even though my opponent seemed kind of off..."

Chitanda nodded. "Also, I'm curious, you seemed protective of the rosary on your chest. Why is that?"

"Oh, that?" Moka's smile faded. She looked away from Chitanda uncomfortably. "Well, um... it's just a promise I made to myself. That I wouldn't take it off while I'm here..."

"Oh, any particular reason why?"

"N-no, it's nothing!" Moka stammered nervously. "It's nothing, really."

"Oh." An obviously confused Chitanda paused. "Well, do you have anything else you'd like to add?"

Moka paused for a moment. "Well, I don't know who I'll be facing in round two yet, but I hope things go well! Oh, and also." Moka took a few steps closer to the camera, looking into it with a wink. "Hi, Tsukune!"

The scene cut to show the General Manager, Junko Enoshima, making her way through the backstage area. She arrived at a door with her name on it. Reaching out a hand, she turned the doorknob, only to find the entirety of 765 Pro crammed into her office.

Junko stared, dumbfound. "Alright, there needs to be about twenty less people in here." She commented, struggling to squeeze herself into her office. "What do all of you want?"

One of the idols, a long-haired brunette, spoke up. "Producer-san, come tell her!"

The girls all broke out into various calls of "Producer-san!"

"Alright, alright, I'm trying." A male voice called out. A bespectacled man in a business suit stepped through the girls, walking up to Junko. "Hello!"

"Let me guess." Junko began. "You're the Producer?"

"Oh, yes." Producer responded.

"And do you have a name?"

Hibiki immediately interjected. "To us he's Producer-san!"

"Well, anyway, Enoshima-san." Producer began. "I wanted to talk to you about having the girls featured on more shows."

"And you needed to cram all of them in my office to do that?"

Producer chuckled nervously. "Well, that was actually their idea. But the audiences responded positively to their performance before Hibiki's match last week. And even though Hibiki didn't win, I think future performances would be beneficial for both 765 Pro and Super High School Pro."

Junko put on her glasses, her business-like persona seemingly taken over. "It's an interesting proposal. But SHSP is a pro wrestling company, not a performance company. Do you have anyone else willing to compete?"

"I can!" Called one of the performers, one with short, dark hair and somewhat masculine clothing.

Junko peered over. "You do know this is a female wrestling company, right?"

"But... I am a girl..." She fretted, the life being sucked out of her immediately. She turned away.

"There there, Makoto-chan." A blue-haired member of the group said reassuringly, patting Makoto on the shoulder.

Junko stared at the strange scene for a second before continuing. "Anyway, we will have teams competing for the tag team championships in a few weeks time. If you can come up with a duo out of the thirty of you, then you can have your entrances any way you'd like."

"I know someone who can be in the tag team tournament!" A voice suddenly shouted behind Junko, causing her to flinch. She turned to see one of the idols, another brunette with her hair tied in a short ponytail on the side of her head. "How about Ami?!"

"Oh!" From the other side came another idol, this one looking identical to Ami, except with a longer ponytail. "And Mami!"

Junko's 'cute' voice returned. "Twins?! How exciting!" She reverted back to her normal state. "Okay, Ami and Mami..." She trailed off.

"Futami!" They both added.

"Ami and Mami... Futami..." Junko said incredulously, looking between the two. "Okay, then, once the competition for the tag team title tournament starts, you two are in, and you can use everyone else in your entrance if you'd like."

The idols all began to cheer happily.

Producer extended a hand to Junko. "Thank you for this opportunity."

"Yeah yeah, just go, I'm feeling claustrophobic."

The camera returned to the ringside area, now a bit quiet. The soft guitars and piano of Hitagi Senjougahara's entrance theme filled the arena now.

"What's this now?" Aioi asked.

Out from behind the curtain walked Senjougahara. She made her way down the entrance ramp, walking swiftly and seriously, and as with her entrance for her round one match, her serious face and demeanor made a stark contrast from her gentle entrance theme.

"Well, Hitagi Senjougahara's not scheduled for a match tonight, so I'm not really sure what she's doing out here." Naganohara asked.

Senjougahara continued her walk past the steps leading up to the ring, instead going around the ringside area, approaching the side of the ring where the ring announcers and timekeepers table were. She approached Tenma, who was sitting in a chair in the area.

Tenma looked to Senjougahara with a confused look as she held out a hand. After a moment, Tenma handed over her microphone to Senjougahara.

"Guess she's got something to say." Aioi noted, watching as Senjougahara walked back towards the steps and headed into the ring.

The music came to a stop as Senjougahara stood in the middle of the ring. She paused, looking around at the audience in the arena.

"Judging from the sounds of the audience they're not too excited about what she has to say." Added Naganohara.

Senjougahara brought the microphone up to her mouth. "As most of you already know, my name is Hitagi Senjougahara." There was a smattering of cheers here and there in response. "And unfortunately, as some of you also know, I unfortunately lost my first round match."

The audience continued with bits and noise here and there, watching Senjougahara pace slightly around in the ring.

"it was fairly embarrassing for me, as I lost to a 'Palmtop Tiger' who is barely 145 centimeters tall." She paused looked around, seeming slightly irked by her own words. "But i'm not here to make any excuses. What's done is done. And even though I lost in the first round, I'm going to be making an impact here in SHSP."

She took another break from her words, surveying the arena once again, the anger on her face turning to a more tenacious facial expression.

Senjougahara continued. "I may have lost in the first round of the championship tournament, but when it ends, a champion will be crowned. And I will be challenging that champion sooner or later. And when that day comes, I-"

"_Kioku ga hiraku oto. Kikitai kara. Kimi ni sashidasou_"

Senjougahara stopped mid-sentence as she was interrupted by the beginning of Chitoge Kirisaki's entrance theme. And within a second of it starting, Chitoge emerged from the back to a pop from the crowd.

"Well, what do we have here now!" Exclaimed Naganohara. "First Senjougahara, now Chitoge Kirisaki?"

"If Fukawa comes out next to state her case for a future title match, I'm outta here." Aioi responded.

Looking to be in good spirits, the smiling Chitoge began the walk down the entrance ramp, smiling and waving to the crowd. Upon reaching the ring, she hopped up the stairs and entered through the ropes. All the while, Senjougahara stood glaring angrily at her.

Chitoge sauntered through the ring over to Senjougahara, holding out a hand and motioning to the microphone with a turn of her head. Senjougahara begrudgingly handed it over, wearing a spiteful look all the while.

Chitoge's music came to a halt as the took the microphone. "Wow, Senjougahara, that was really... um, inspiring?"

Senjougahara immediately snatched the microphone back from Chitoge. "Can I help you with something?"

Chitoge reached over, plucking the mic from Senjougahara's hand. "Well, it's just, do you really need to come out here and tell everyone you wanna bounce back from losing? I mean, I lost too, to that man-face Satsuki Kiryuin, but I didn't come out and start boring everyone about it."

The audience made some noise to this, ostensibly in agreement.

Senjougahara pulled the microphone back. She glared over it at Chitoge as she leaned in to speak again. "What gives you the right to say that? Your gang connections are probably what got you invited here in the first place, you go around making comments and instigating, and you criticize me?"

Chitoge's upbeat smile vanished immediately, replaced by a frustrated scowl as she snatched the microphone from Senjougahara. "Really? I'm getting this from someone whose boyfriend is a well-known perverted weirdo, and refers to herself as a 'tsundere'?"

Senjougahara reached out for the mic again, only to be interrupted by the speakers again, this time, the familiar military-style song blaring from them.

"Oh, no." Gasped Naganohara from the announce table.

Satsuki emerged from the back, making a beeline straight for the ring.

"Satsuki Kiryuin!" Naganohara continued. "She came pretty close to getting into it with Chitoge last week before they were pulled apart, but this time, I don't think Senjougahara's gonna stop anything."

Chitoge and Senjougahara both turned to see her stomping rapidly towards the ring. She dropped her sword next to the steps before she ascended them, stepping through the ropes. Her music came to a stop as the Honnouji Director stood only a short distance from Chitoge.

Chitoge began backing up, stepping slowly away while looking at the furious expression on Satsuki's face.

"You gotta believe that Satsuki heard that Chitoge just said about her." Naganohara commented. "Probably not the smartest thing to do."

Satsuki walked forward after Chitoge had backed up a few steps. Chitoge continued to walk backwards before finding herself backed up against the ring ropes. As Satsuki came close, Chitoge quickly slipped through the ropes, hopping over the apron completely and landing on the mats outside of the ring. Satsuki followed her in pursuit, the facade of a slow approach being shed as Satsuki now went running after Chitoge.

Chitoge turned the corner of the ring, Satsuki still closing in on her. She went for the ramp as she ran, only to be cut off by Senjougahara leveling her with a clothesline.

"Oh, come on!" Groaned Naganohara. "That was uncalled for!"

The move knocked Chitoge down onto the ground. Senjougahara peered up to see Satsuki coming, and quickly turned away, heading up towards the ramp.

Satsuki immediately plucked Chitoge from the floor, grabbing her with both hands by the shirt of her uniform, and took off running towards the steps. She flung Chitoge, sending her back-first into the steps with a loud thud.

"Oh, gosh!" Gasped Aioi. "That looked like it hurt bad."

Satsuki immediately pursued Chitoge, walking back up to her.

"Oh come on, that's enough!" Naganohara pleaded. "You've made your point, Satsuki, stop!"

Satsuki picked up Chitoge by the hair this time, slamming her head into the top step closest to the ring. She looked down at the immobilized Chitoge before climbing up to the lower step, and raising one high-heeled boot above the ground.

"No!" Both commentators shouted.

"Don't do this, for the love of God, you'll break her skull!" Naganohara screamed.

Luckily for Chitoge, Referees Nagase, Nishizumi and Hagimura came sprinting down the ramp, all three of them shouting at Satsuki to stop.

Satsuki looked at the three of them pleading and attempting to get between the two of them. Finally, Satsuki lowered her boot, stepping down from the stairs. She turned away as the three referees checked on Chitoge.

Chitoge managed to pull herself from the steps, but collapsed soon after onto the floor. The referees all went to check on Chitoge, but soon found themselves pushed out of the way as Satsuki made her way back over.

"What's she doing now?!" Aioi asked.

Satsuki raised her boot, stomping onto Chitoge's lower back, teeth gritted and face contorted in anger as she applied as much pressure as she could, Chitoge shouting in pain.

The three referees grabbed onto Satsuki, attempting to pull off the fuming young lady. Finally, they managed to pry Satsuki away.

"Oh, man, I know that wasn't right of Chitoge to say, but that was going too far." Naganohara said. "I mean, I do feel bad for her, but at the same time, I mean, you gotta think that wouldn't have happened if she hadn't interrupted Senjougahara and made fun of Kiryuin..."

"Hey, pro wrestling's all about making a statement and making yourself heard." Aioi responded. "This time it just kinda bit her."

Satsuki stared coldly at Chitoge on the mat, being checked on by the referees. She turned away, walking back up towards the entrance ramp.

Mercifully, the camera cut away from the ringside area, now onto the backstage area, showing Yui Hirasawa, pulling on the blue shirt of her uniform up over the white shirt she already had on. She put both hands over the blue ribbon on her collar, making sure it was tied tightly. "I'm ready!"

"Hey, Yui!"

Yui looked as a pair of girls came walking up, wearing the same uniform she was.

"Mio-chan, Ricchan!" Yui greeted them. "What brings you here?! I thought the competition for the tag team titles wasn't for a few weeks?"

The taller of the two, a kind-looking girl with long dark hair began. "Ritsu and I just wanted to come and wish you luck, and, well..." She paused uncomfortably. "Are you really sure about this?"

"Huh?" A confused Yui asked. "What do you mean?"

"It's just..." Began Ritsu, a shorter girl about Yui's height of similar hair color and length, wearing a tiara on her head that made her forehead look much larger than the other two girls'. "Well, I mean, you don't seem like you'd be right for this kinda thing, Yui."

"I know everyone thinks that." Yui replied. "General Manager Junko didn't even want to let me compete. But no one thought I could learn to play guitar either, and I did!"

"We just want to make sure you'll be alright, is all." Mio replied. "I mean, I'm not really much of a fighter either, but I'm gonna try my best in the tag team division. Though then again Ritsu kinda forced me into agreeing to it..." She added, throwing Ritsu an aside glance.

Ritsu chuckled nervously. "Well, anyway, good luck out there, Yui. Make After School Tea Time proud!"

"Yeah!" Yui cheered. "And then afterwards we can all have tea and cake, right?!"

Mio and Ritsu looked slightly perturbed at this.

"Just... take this seriously, okay?" Ritsu asked, patting Yui on the shoulder.

"Okay..."

The camera cut to Junko in her office again. The door suddenly burst open, and in entered Kirino.

Junko looked up. "Oh, Kousaka, thank you for knocking."

"How about that?" Kirino asked confidently, placing her hands on Junko's desk. "I just won that match, and she wasn't an easy opponent. You still think you're gonna get me terminated after that?"

"Please." Scoffed Junko. She slipped into her 'despair' personality. "The challenges you've fought so far are nothing compared to what's coming... I feel despair awaits you..."

Kirino removed her hands from Junko's desk, crossing her arms. "How many matches do I have to win before you drop this?"

"It doesn't matter." Junko replied, speaking normally. "There's no way you'll be lucky enough to win your next match, so you better just hope you put up enough of a fight so that the board doesn't agree with me on the topic of your termination. Now, please, do me a favor and go away."

Kirino grumbled under her breath as she turned and walked away. "If you're running things, you should be smarter than to bet against me." She commented before closing the door behind her.

Junko shook her head at Kirino's words before returning to her paperwork.

The flustered face of Mirai Kuriyama appeared on-screen as she walked through the backstage area.

"Hey, there."

The words brought Mirai to a stop. She looked over to see Yurippe Nakamura standing nearby.

"Welcome to the first round loser's club." Yurippe jokingly quipped, walking over to Mirai. "Don't sweat it, it happens."

Mirai looked down away from Yurippe. "It's just that..."

"Hm?" A confused Yurippe asked.

"I..." Mirai looked away, still looking troubled. "I... I can't afford to get kicked out of SHSP!" She blurted out fretfully, looking at Yurippe with concern. "I already spent all my money for the month, I was counting on things going well here... if I don't get called back after losing in round one, I won't even have money for food this month! I didn't even eat this morning and my stomach was growling during the whole match!"

"Huh? But then... why didn't you go to catering before your match?"

Mirai looked up. "Catering?"

"Yeah, there's food supplied for everyone working here... didn't you know that?"

"No one told me that!" Exclaimed an upset Mirai.

"Oh, well, let me show you." Yurippe lead Mirai down the hallway. "That's weird no one told you, usually they let everyone know as soon as they arrive for the first time. Guess they must've forgot."

"How unpleasant..."

"Oh, poor Mirai." Naganohara's voice narrated as the camera returned to the ringside area. "Well, now it's time to finish up the first round of the tournament! It's time for the last first round match."

Tenma stood in the ring with the microphone as the bell rang. "The following contest is the final first round match in the SHSP Championship Tournament, and is scheduled for one fall!"

The sound of four drum hits followed by three repeating guitar chords played from the speakers. With the sound of "_Chatting now gachi de kashimashi never ending girls talk_", Yui burst out from the back energetically, grinning from ear to ear. She held up her arms to a huge cheer from the audience. With that, she ran down the ramp, immediately heading to the side to high-five the fans by ringside.

"Introducing first, Yui Hirasawa!"

"And here comes Yui Hirasawa!" Naganohara narrated as Yui happily interacted with the audience.

"Kind of a surprise that she'd be in this." Aioi replied. "Her joyful and sweet personality doesn't seem like a fit for this competition."

"It's like they say, though, it doesn't matter what you did before. When she steps through that curtain, no matter what she's like outside the ring, she's on the same level as everyone else."

Upon reaching the end of the ramp, Yui immediately turned around and ran back up, giving high-fives to the fans on the other side as she came back down.

"Seems like she's definitely gonna be a fan-favorite though." Aioi noted as Yui continued down the ramp, going towards ringside and continuing to give high-fives to everyone seated at ringside. "I think if she could she'd slap hands with everyone in the entire audience."

Yui continued her way around the ringside area, eventually arriving at the announcer's desk. She held up both hands for both commentators, who happily obliged.

"Even we get one!" Aioi exclaimed as Yui continued her way around ringside, making sure to stop for Kosaki Onodera, slapping hands with the excited timekeeper.

Finally, Yui had gone completely around the entire ringside area, arriving at the ramp again. She raced up the steps, hopping through the ropes, and stumbling a little upon getting into the ring. The guitarist ran up onto the middle turnbuckle, waving her hands to elicit a cheer from the audience. She hopped down, stopping mid-ring to give high-fives to Tenma and Referee Nishizumi. Continuing on, she went onto the opposite corner, motioning to the crowd from the middle turnbuckle.

Yui finally climbed down and remained in one place. Her entrance song's volume lowered and eventually came to a stop.

"And now it's time to see who Yui drew for this last first round match." Naganohara commented.

Yui stood in one place yet didn't remain totally stationary, looking to be almost jittery with anticipation. as she bounced around.

The silence was broken by the sound of ominous, chant-like vocals, kicking in as the arena's lights suddenly dimmed, a purple glow accompanying the slight darkness. The sound of orchestral instruments joined in with the foreboding vocal track.

Out from behind the curtain stepped the last entrant into the tournament - wearing a beige school uniform with a plaid skirt, and similar to Yui, stocking and brown shoes. But befitting her eerie entrance music, was her very long, pitch-black hair, and blank purple eyes that showed no emotion whatsoever.

She stood on the top of the entrance ramp for a few moments, remaining still as she looked ahead to the ring, wearing a stoic look on her face.

"And her opponent, Homura Akemi!"

The crowd had gone nearly silent, almost in awe of her presence and the eerie music and lighting combination.

"Oh, gosh." Naganohara said.

Homura began the walk to the ring, moving very slowly, her blank eyes facing straight ahead.

Naganohara continued. "It's true that what happens before you walk through those ropes isn't so important, but it still looks like Yui drew the short stick in this match. Homura Akemi is known for setting many provincial-level athletic records. And besides the point, she cares about one thing and one thing only, and that's her best friend, so if there was anyone who'd easy on Yui, it wouldn't be Homura."

The happy look on Yui's face throughout her energetic entrance was gone, now looking with concern at her opponent entering the ring. With the lighting and music, it was a very intimidating image.

Homura ascended the staircase to the ring and stepped through the ropes. Upon entering, she turned, looking straight at Yui, who immediately flinched upon getting a look at Homura's face.

"Holy crap, look at those eyes." Aioi said. "This girl just gives me a bad vibe."

The music ceased playing and the lights went back to normal again, giving an even clearer look at the inexpressive face of Homura, whose gaze was still fixed straight on Yui.

Even Referee Nishizumi looked a bit put off by Homura. She looked over to Onodera, who rang the bell three times.

"And this match is officially underway!"

Yui reluctantly began to approach Homura, still looking to be unsettled from Homura's presence. Homura was still staring directly at Yui with her cold, expressionless eyes.

With both hands up, Yui continued to move closer towards Homura. She continued to move in, only to be immediately grabbed by her opponent with both hands, grabbing hold of her blue shirt. Homura moved her right arm underneath Yui's left, throwing her with a hip toss onto the mat. Yui bounced off the mat back-first, but quickly rolled over and got back up onto her knees. She looked up at Homura, looking more and more fearful by the second.

Yui stood up straight again, only to see Homura now walking directly towards her. Homura grabbed hold of Yui with both hands again, walking her forward a few steps before giving her a hard toss into the corner, Yui bouncing briefly into the turnbuckles. She came running at the corner, thrusting her shoulder into Yui's midsection, which forced her again into the corner.

"Oh man, Homura really means business, doesn't she?" Naganohara said. "She came right out of the gate and took it to Yui right away."

"She doesn't seem like the kind to be up for some friendly competition to me..." Replied Aioi.

Homura took a step back, Yui holding onto the ropes in the corner. Yui looked up to see Homura repeating her previous move, throwing her shoulder into her midsection again. Yui teetered out of the corner, wandering straight into a side kick from Homura, who gained enough height on it to catch Yui in the chest area.

"Impressive kick from Homura!" Naganohara commented as Yui was dropped to the mat from it. "You gotta wonder if this is just how the match is starting, or if Yui's gonna be able to get into this."

"She's not a natural fighter, that's for sure." Aioi replied. "Here goes Homura for the cover."

Homura dropped onto Yui for the pinfall. "1, 2-" Yui got her shoulder off the mat before Referee Nishizumi could count three.

Homura removed herself from the pin and stood up. Her emotionless scowl remained as she glanced down at Yui, who was attempting to regain her footing, already looking to be woozy in the early going. Homura began to circle around Yui slowly, moving behind her. She threw her right arm around Yui's mid-back, free hand on Yui's waist, and tucked her head underneath Yui's own arm, using the position to lift her up and drop backwards, slamming Yui back-first to the mat.

"Back suplex by Homura!" Naganohara shouted.

Yui sat up after being suplexed, her face straining from the impact. Homura stood behind Yui again as she slowly began to make her way back up again. Gradually, Yui managed to get up again, only for Homura to come back and go for another back suplex, once again heaving her off the mat and bringing her back down with another hard impact.

"And there's two..." Aioi commented.

Homura sprung back up immediately, once more stalking Yui as she attempted to stand up again. The dark-haired girl charged in before Yui could even get up again, once again assuming the position for the back suplex. This time Homura didn't fall backwards, though, instead holding Yui up in the air for a few moments. She held this for a few moments, before letting go of Yui completely, leaving her to fall helplessly onto the mat.

Yui grimaced on the mat upon being dropped. Homura just watched Yui with the same unfeeling look on her face before deciding to drop down into another pin attempt.

Referee Nishizumi counted it. "1, 2-" Shoulder up from Yui.

"And Yui kicks out." Naganohara commented. "I know this match is still young, but Yui's taken a lot of punishment in these couple of minutes. Homura Akemi is not playing around here."

"Judging from that look on her face it doesn't seem like she's used to playing around, period."

Homura pulled Yui up to her feet now, grabbing hold of one wrist to turn around and launch her with a whip into the corner. Homura turned and went running into the corner towards Yui, who dropped down onto the mat and rolled out of the ring, halting Homura's charge.

"And a smart move by Yui." Naganohara said.

"There's a sentence you don't hear too much."

Yui wandered over to the barricade between the ringside area and the fans, throwing her arm around it and catching her breath. Before long, however, she could see Homura stepping through the ropes onto the ring apron, and stepping down onto the mat. Yui glanced at her once, before taking off in a spring around the ringside area. Homura pursued immediately, running after her opponent.

"And there she goes." Aioi commented flatly.

"Interesting strategy, though. Maybe if she can't overpower Homura, she can wear her out this way."

Yui turned the corner around the ring, Homura still only steps behind her. With that the guitarist slipped under the middle rope into the ring. Homura came to a halt, reaching for the ropes to pull herself up with. Upon getting back onto the apron, Homura looked up to see Yui running off the ropes on the opposite side of the ring. And just as she regained her footing, Homura was tackled by Yui through the ropes, both of them tumbling onto the outside of the ring as the audience cheered.

"And Yui finally gets into this thing with a dive, taking Homura to the outside!" Naganohara exclaimed.

Yui crawled away from the mat, looking to be slightly out of breath as a result of the move. Homura was pulling herself back up, not being kept down for too long. She approached Yui, who was making her way back into the ring, grabbing hold of Yui by the collar of her shirt. Almost instinctively, Yui reached out a hand, latching onto the bottom rope as Homura tried to pull her away.

Homura continued to tug at Yui, eventually losing her grip as Yui managed to hold on, sending her staggering back a few steps towards the entrance ramp. Yui took advantage of the opportunity and slid back into the ring. Within a few seconds, Homura followed suit.

Naganohara jumped back into the commentary. "Well, Yui's done a decent job of keeping Homura from doing any more damage, but I don't think she's gonna get anywhere if she doesn't hit her back!"

With Homura getting back up after sliding in, Yui ran to the corner, turning around and climbing up to the second rope, facing Homura. As she stood up straight, she began to stumble a bit, grabbing hold of the ropes for support.

"I think she might be nervous about trying a top rope move." Aioi pointed out, noticing Yui teetering as she remained on the rope.

Once in the ring, Homura dove towards Yui, grabbing hold of her leg before she was able to successfully complete her move. With that, she moved her other hand onto Yui's leg, pulling her from the corner, sending her crashing back-first onto the mat.

Homura made her way over to Yui, who was now writhing on the ground, and turned her over onto her stomach. She dropped one knee onto Yui's lower back, her body straining as she applied as much pressure as she could.

"And now Homura applying a submission hold!" Naganohara exclaimed. "After that fall from the top, this might do it. A lot of her moves have gone after Yui's back, I don't know how long she can hold on."

Referee Nishizumi slid onto the ground by Yui. "What do you say, Yui? You give up?"

"N-no!" Yui cried out, her pain evident in her single word, Homura still applying the pressure.

Homura leaned forward, her knee still in Yui's back, grabbing hold of Yui's right hand with her right, and her left with her left, leaning backwards to apply even more pressure. The audience clamored at the brutal-looking submission.

"My God, that looks painful!" Aioi gasped. "Yui's gonna have to tap out now!"

Referee Nishizumi pressed Yui again. "Yui, do you want to give up?"

Still breathing heavily and grimacing in pain, Yui shook her head in response. Her legs began to kick back and forth, her body attempting to struggle in vain against the submission hold. However, her foot managed to land firmly on top of the bottom rope.

"Yui managed to get one foot onto the rope!" Naganohara exclaimed. "That means Homura's gonna have to break the hold before a 5-count is reached."

Referee Nishizumi got up, moving to Homura now. "Come on, Homura, you need to break the hold! 1, 2, 3-" Homura let go of Yui's arms, and removed her knee, standing up.

"You gotta wonder how much good that's gonna do, though." Aioi commented. And indeed, Yui was still writhing well after Homura abandoned the hold.

Homura again lifted Yui up to a standing basis, Yui moving slowly, and not putting up much of a fight against it. Homura turned slightly to the side, throwing one hand over Yui's clavicle and the other underneath the back of her legs, lifting her so she was completely horizontal in her arms. She paused momentarily in this position, before dropping down onto one knee, driving Yui's back into the other one.

"Backbreaker!" Naganohara's voice on commentary sounded as if she was cringing. "I think that might do it."

Yui put one hand on her back, breathing heavily and face contorted. Homura stood back up, staring blankly at her fallen opponent on the mat. The inexpressive look she wore remained, leaving no obviousness to what be running in her mind as she watched Yui squirm on the ground.

Finally, Homura leaned down, throttling Yui with her right hand, moving her left onto her to pull her up from the mat. She pulled her opponent up so they were both standing once again, Homura's right hand still around her neck, left hand on her back.

Panting, Yui managed to look up at her opponent, who stared back blankly. Still holding on Yui by the throat and back, Homura lifted her up into the air, bringing her down to the mat with an especially hard slam, Homura herself dropping down with her for what appeared to be added impact.

"Homura with a chokeslam!" Naganohara commented. "There's no way that's not gonna do it."

Homura kneeled beside Yui, placing both hands on her stomach. Referee Nishizumi counted. "1, 2, 3!"

Three rings of the bell followed, with the ominous music that accompanied Homura playing over the speakers once again.

"The winner of this match, Homura Akemi!"

Homura remained in her pin of Yui for a few moments, closing her eyes as the music filled the arena. The lights began to dim again, the purple glowing lights filling the arena again.

"And Homura with an absolutely dominating victory." Naganohara said. "Poor Yui didn't even stand a chance."

Homura finally relinquished her pinning position, standing up again as a clearly uncomfortable Referee Nishizumi raised Homura's hand.

"Geez, everything about her makes me uncomfortable." Aioi commented. "I mean, in the first place, who signed on for this music and these lights? And the way she stayed in that pin..."

Homura stood in the middle of the ring, looking out upon the speechless crowd, who were seemingly in awe of her presence.

"I think the question here is, who in the tournament is gonna take her down?" Asked Naganohara. "We've seen some great performances, but Homura just absolutely dominated this match."

Homura looked over to the side of the ring, where Mio and Ritsu had run down. Referee Nishizumi was helping Yui underneath the ropes, into the arms of her friends. Homura's glance was apparently stuck on them, staring intently as Yui was helped from the ring by her two band mates.

Aioi jumped back into the conversation. "I'm just wondering if Homura really was that strong, or Junko was right about Yui not be cut out for this kind of thing."

"Or maybe both..."

Homura continued to watch as Yui was helped back up the ramp by Ritsu and Mio. She finally turned away as they began to disappear up the ramp. She looked downwards now, almost as if deep in thought.

"This Homura, is just..." Aioi trailed off mid-thought.

Homura stepped through the ropes to the outside, stepping down the small set of steps and beginning the walk up the ramp to the back. Upon reaching the top of the ramp, she stopped again, standing completely still. Her head turned downwards as it had when she went still in the ring a few moments before. Finally, she continued through the curtain.

The cameras focused on Naganohara and Aioi behind their commentary desk, Homura's music coming to a stop.

"Well, an unexpected final first round final match for sure." Naganohara said. "But nonetheless, round 1 is over, and now the bracket for round two and the rest of the tournament will be revealed!"

"We know who's in it, but let's see who they'll be facing." Aioi added.

On the large screen above the entrance ramp the bracket was displayed for the fans to see. It showed the matches that were set for the second round - Rias versus Homura, Taiga versus Satsuki, Kirino Vs. Ichiko and Moka Vs. Saeko, in that order.

"And there it is!" Naganohara exclaimed. "Wow, some interesting matches there."

"Some? They all look pretty interesting to me." Aioi replied. "Satsuki and Taiga? Man, that's gonna be crazy."

Naganohara put her right hand over her headset. "Well, we're getting word now, that next week's main event will see Homura Akemi in action again, as she takes on Rias Gremory in a second round match!"

"Wow!" Aioi exclaimed. "Those two going head-to-head, I can't wait to see that one!"

Naganohara nodded with a smile. "Yep, and we'll have all that and more time! Thank you for joining us everyone, we'll see you next week!"


End file.
